Regulation 2016/589 - European network of employment services (EURES), workers' access to mobility services and the further integration of labour markets - Main contents

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 107/1

The free movement of workers is a fundamental freedom of citizens of the Union and one of the pillars of the internal market, enshrined in Article 45 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). Its implementation is further developed by Union law aiming to guarantee the full exercise of rights conferred on citizens of the Union and the members of their families.

The free movement of workers is one of the key elements in the development of a more integrated Union labour market, including in cross-border regions, which allows higher worker mobility, thereby increasing diversity and contributing to Union-wide social inclusion and integration of persons excluded from the labour market. It also contributes to finding the right skills for vacant positions and overcoming bottlenecks in the labour market.

Regulation (EU) No 492/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council (4) established mechanisms for clearance and for information exchange, and Commission Implementing Decision 2012/733/EU (5) laid down provisions on the functioning of a network for European employment services (EURES network) in accordance with that Regulation. That regulatory framework needs to be revised to reflect new mobility patterns, enhanced requirements for mobility on a fair basis, changes in the technology for sharing job-vacancy data, the use of a variety of recruitment channels by workers and employers and the increasing role of other labour-market brokers next to the public employment services (‘PES’) in the provision of recruitment services.

In order to help the workers who enjoy the right to work in another Member State to exercise that right effectively, assistance in accordance with this Regulation is open to all citizens of the Union who have a right to take up an activity as a worker and to the members of their families in accordance with Article 45 TFEU. Member States should give the same access to any third-country national benefiting, in accordance with Union or national law, from equal treatment with their own nationals in that field. This Regulation is without prejudice to the rules on the access of third-country nationals to national labour markets as set out in the relevant Union and national law.

Growing interdependency among labour markets calls for reinforced cooperation between employment services, including those in cross-border regions, to bring about freedom of movement for all workers through voluntary labour mobility within the Union on a fair basis and in accordance with Union law and national law and practice pursuant to point (a) of Article 46 TFEU. A framework for cooperation on labour mobility within the Union should therefore be established between the Commission and the Member States. That framework should bring together job vacancies from across the Union and the possibility of applying for those job vacancies, set up...