The European Labour Authority, designed to streamline and facilitate regulation enforcement on work and social security between Member States, has launched.
With around 17.5 million EU citizens living or working in a different Member State to their state of origin – around twice as many as 10 years ago – and millions of businesses throughout the EU conducting operations across Member States’ borders, the European Commission under outgoing President Jean-Claude Juncker identified a need to consolidate rules governing workers’ rights and labour mobility. The European Labour Authority was therefore established to co-ordinate matters pertaining to employment and social affairs between Member States.
President Juncker said: “The European Labour Authority is the cornerstone in our work to make EU labour rules fair, effective and enforceable. It is no surprise that the Authority was established in record time, given its great necessity. The Authority will provide workers and employers with better access to information on their rights and obligations and will support national labour authorities in their cross-border activities. This will directly support the millions of Europeans who live or work in another Member State as well as the millions of businesses operating cross-border in the EU. This is another major step towards an integrated European labour market built on trust, reliable rules and effective cooperation. I want to thank all those – in the Parliament, the Council and the Commission – who have made the Authority a reality. I wish it every success.”
The European Labour Authority, which will be headquartered in the Slovakian capital Bratislava, will operate with three primary objectives:
- Facilitating the flow of information to businesses and individual citizens on their rights and responsibilities with regard to cross-border employment;
- Acting as a central point for Member States to co-operate on the enforcement of EU labour law; and
- Providing mediation and resolution in the event of cross-border labour disputes.
European Commission Vice President Dombrovskis said: “The European Labour Authority brings national authorities together. Both in its governance structure and day-to-day operations, the Authority will facilitate the cooperation between Member State representatives, as well as social partners.”
Commissioner Marianne Thyssen said: “The [European] Labour Authority will be the oil in the machinery of the internal market. A place where colleagues from different national authorities become used to working together and solving problems together. This will make the wheels of labour mobility turn more smoothly, to the advantage of millions of European citizens and businesses that make use of their right of free movement every day.”
