A new labour mobility package is being prepared, but will it leave out the essentials?

At the moment the Commission in preparing a Labour Mobility Package, anticipated to be published by the end of the year. Unfortunately, it seems to reflect the political discourse and puts too much focus on the coordination of social benefits as well as on a review of the posted workers directive. Labour mobility is never that straightforward, because its effects also reflected upon education, business and immigration. Labour mobility is never that straightforward, because its effects also reflected upon education, business and immigration.

Labour mobility is never that straightforward, because its effects also reflected upon education, business and immigration.

Today many young Europeans leave their home countries for work purposes. This is a great opportunity to gain international experience, but at the same time there are employers who try to take advantage of the situation by creating weaker labour conditions in comparison to locals. Mobility must always be a free choice and social dumping is never acceptable.

It’s also regrettable that there is a serious imbalance on the European labour market, where supply and demand do not meet. Therefore it would be extremely important that the Labour Mobility Package would also include the recognition of qualifications.

Students, researchers and professionals will most probably spend time abroad at some point in their lives, therefore it’s extremely important that their skills and qualifications are officially recognised. It would be extremely important that the Labour Mobility Package would also include the recognition of qualifications.

It would be extremely important that the Labour Mobility Package would also include the recognition of qualifications.

A new type of mobility is also happening through digitalisation. You can for example live in Switzerland, work for a company in Spain but be employed by the headquarters in Ireland. This equation is rather complicated when we start speaking about social benefits and taxation. Especially professionals and managers often have tasks that are not related to space or time.

In the worst case scenario the employee is subject to double taxation or falls between two social security systems. It would therefore be important to improve the social security of this people and offer solutions for this new type of mobility.