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Presently, about 14 million European citizens reside and work permanently in another EU member state, including about two million cross-border workers and 3.64 million posted workers. At the same time, the Eurobarometer survey notes that about 18 percent of respondents said they, in principle, would like to work abroad. The newly released labor mobility package reflects the EU-wide conviction to create a stronger and more competitive economy, with freedoms to move and work while creating practically valuable goods and services.
Background
Freedom of movement allows EU citizens and their family members to live, work, study and travel freely across the European Union without needing a work permit or facing nationality discrimination; this fundamental right is established by Article 21 of the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union and Article 45 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.
More in: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/factsheets/en/sheet/147/free-movement-of-persons
In March 2026, at the Council’s summit, the EU leaders called for measures to enhance worker mobility by improving the mutual recognition of professional qualifications and strengthening the portability of skills, including through digitalisation. This package delivers on the One Europe, One Market roadmap, which identified the fair labour mobility package and the skills portability initiative as priority deliverables for a more integrated Single Market.
On March summit in: https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/meetings/european-council/2026/03/19/
The package will enable workers to prove and claim their social security and health insurance rights, and have their qualifications understood everywhere in the EU and formally recognised where the profession is regulated. New rules and tools will better protect mobile workers from abuse and remove slow and complex administrative procedures that hinder companies from recruiting talent or providing services across the EU. National administrations will benefit from more efficient cooperation to enforce workers’ rights and to fight fraud.
On fair mobility package in: https://employment-social-affairs.ec.europa.eu/document/80cf3f96-c236-4629-8feb-aece67e4a84b_en
Labor mobility in the EU-27
The single market, with its four freedoms, is a cornerstone of our European Union. Far more than a set of rules, it represents a promise of shared prosperity, allowing every individual, worker and business to reach and value their full potential, while providing the maximum level of protection necessary to ensure fair competition and the security of rights across borders.
Cross-border labour mobility and cross-border provision of services in the EU benefit individuals, economies and societies as a whole. The right of free movement of EU citizens, which allows people to live, work and study across the EU, is supported by almost 90% of European citizens. However, still, over 10 million people of working age (3.9% of the EU working-age population) reside in other states for long-term periods.
For many individuals, the obstacles hindering them from working abroad are practical. A person who has trained as an architect, electrician or teacher, in one EU member state may still face delays, costly and cumbersome procedures, lack of information or legal uncertainty when trying to have their qualifications recognised in another state to access a regulated profession.
In other situations, where recognition of a qualification is not formally required to access jobs, people may fear that their skills and experience are not properly understood and valued when moving to another member state.
A person intending to work abroad may also struggle to understand how the social security rights, pension contributions or access to social benefits – including support services to enable persons with disabilities to participate in employment – will be regulated and protected. These difficulties can discourage mobility before it even begins.
Further practical challenges persist and need to be addressed: language barriers, insufficient access to transport and transport facilities, difficulties in finding affordable housing and access to civil administrative procedures. Mobile workers also need fair access to financial services, and taxation systems lack transparency and ease of use across borders.
More ideas in the package: https://commission.europa.eu/topics/competitiveness/one-europe-one-market-roadmap_en
But labour mobility is not only a fundamental freedom, but also a strategic asset for the EU’s competitiveness, resilience and convergence. Labour mobility brings clear economic benefits and can help mitigate the EU’s demographic challenges, as it creates opportunities not only for those who move, but also for those who choose to stay or return to their home regions, helping ensure that mobility contributes to balanced development and convergence across the Union.
It helps employers find the skilled workers they need, supports productivity growth and can raise income across the wider workforce. This matters even more as the EU faces growing labour and skills shortages in numerous economic sectors central to competitiveness and security, such as agriculture and fisheries, construction, health and care, transport, digital industries, clean technologies, defence and space supply chains.
More in the Commission Communication “Fair Labour Mobility Package” in: https://employment-social-affairs.ec.europa.eu/document/80cf3f96-c236-4629-8feb-aece67e4a84b_en
Commission’s opinion
As Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission notes, the EU single market must also become a “genuine skills market with more opportunities for workers and businesses”. Hence, she added the new labor package has been approved to reach two goals: tackling still existing barriers and making the most of the talent in Europe.
Besides, simplification and stronger enforcement go hand in hand – hence, skills, recognition and protection will move seamlessly across borders.
Source and citation from: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_26_1851