ELA supports Member States' effective compliance with cooperation obligations for instance information exchange, in the areas of EU labour mobility.
The Authority promotes and supports cooperation between Member States in particular by:
- facilitating the cooperation and accelerating the information exchange between the Member States;
- offering logistical, financial and technical support for the organisation of bilateral and multilateral events, upon request and on initiative of the Member States;
- promoting further digitalisation and innovative approaches to cross border cooperation;
- providing information and expertise to support the Member States in the effective application of labour mobility legislation.
ELA is supported by a network of National Liaison Officers (NLOs) who assist ELA in facilitating and enhancing cooperation between Member States. The NLOs are experts seconded by each Member State and act as the national contact points between their Member State and ELA.
Facts and figures
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Cases of facilitated exchange of information
We support national authorities to cooperate and exchange information on EU labour mobility laws, through the NLO network. This helps Member States to deal with cross-border issues faster and in an effective way.
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Cross-border cooperation initiatives
We support cross-border cooperation projects and facilitate bilateral and multilateral solutions, exploring joint initiatives and partnerships at the request of Member States.
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Actions on EU digital tools
We support and promote EU electronic tools for labour mobility (IMI, EESSI, ERRU) by offering training programmes for national authorities' experts and a platform to exchange knowledge and best practices.
How to
Request cooperation support
Member State authorities can ask ELA's support to facilitate cooperation and information exchange to ensure effective compliance with cooperation obligations.
Learn and share
Relevant national authorities and other stakeholders cantake part in workshops, training sessions, and meetings of thematic fora on the EU labour mobility legislation, promoting knowledge exchange and collaborative cooperation.
Explore cross-border cooperation practices
ELA reports on cross-border cooperation challenges and good practices within various areas of labour mobility. Discover how Member States can improve their cooperation through ELA’s support.
Support services to Member States
To enhance collaboration among national authorities responsible for implementing EU labour mobility legislation, ELA provides the following support services:
cooperation and information exchange: we support and promote information exchange among Member States. We develop tools and processes. We also address submitted questions or requests by identifying and contacting the competent national authority or by initiating a follow-up or activity (e.g., inspection, cooperation initiative, etc.). The NLOs serve as the primary contact points for their Member States.
Cooperation initiatives: we support cross-border cooperation initiatives by providing logistical, technical, and financial support to meetings between national authorities and/or the social partners to discuss cooperation priorities, practices and challenges to enhance cooperation between Member States and raising awareness about EU rules in the field of labour mobility law and ELA’s role.
Promotion of digital tools: we promote the effective use of digital tools for exchange of information and cross-border cooperation between national authorities such as the Internal Market Information (IMI), the Electronic Exchange of Social Security Information (EESSI) and the European Register of Road Transport Undertakings (ERRU).
Understanding and learning from each other: we provide opportunities through mutual learning and understanding programmes (MLUP) to collectively address challenges related to the implementation of labour mobility legislation at the national, regional and European levels with relevant stakeholders. Additionally, we provide information support to Member States on issues concerning the application of EU labour mobility law, upon request.
The National Liaison Officers (NLOs)
Concerted and joint inspections are subject to prior agreement and notified via NLOs, who act as coordinators and contact points with their Member States.
The role of the NLOs is set by ELA’s founding Regulation (Art.32).
Country pages
Go to the Country page of your interest and find country related information and a selection of relevant contact points at national level in the fields of labour mobility, tackling undeclared work and social security coordination.
Mutual Learning and Understanding Programmes (MLUPs)
Mutual Learning and Understanding Programmes (MLUPs) strengthen the cooperation, mutual assistance and coherent understanding, between Member States and relevant stakeholders on the effective and practical application and enforcement of EU rules in the EU labour market. They provide a platform for exchanging practices and sharing knowledge, and promote and enhance the use of electronic tools, procedures, exchange mechanisms, and databases for cross-border cooperation. The MLUPs assemble experts and practitioners from the ELA, the European Commission, Member States, social partners and other relevant stakeholders.
Programmes dedicated to the thematic and focus areas on labour mobility and social security coordination:
The IMI System is an online tool for exchange of information between public authorities involved in the practical implementation of EU labour law.
The programme allows national IMI users to:
- Establish a forum composed by IMI users, where Members States can share information, good practices, and experiences to develop joint solutions that can improve the use of the IMI modules;
- Propose solutions to practical obstacles in the use of IMI modules, and build the capacity and skills of national IMI users with the support of peers from other countries.
ELA's role and tasks: ELA works together with the European Commission and the national authorities to organize capacity building activities. For instance: workshops, training and information sessions and peer-to-peer exchanges. These initiatives are designed to support national IMI-users in exchanging information and tackling common challenges related to the use of IMI in the areas of posting of workers and road transport.
Background
The IMI-PROVE was established by ELA in close cooperation with the European Commission to reinforce cooperation and mutual assistance between Member States and to enhance the effective use of the Internal Market Information (IMI) System [1] modules for posting of workers and road transport.
The IMI-PROVE Programme focuses on four pillars:
- Understanding the challenges behind the low usage of certain IMI modules for posting of workers;
- Identifying and reporting technical challenges in the use of the posting of workers modules;
- Creating a common understanding of the pre-defined questions in the information request module for posting of workers;
- Building capacity and common understanding in relation to the new road transport modules.
These four pillars contribute to strengthening administrative cooperation and mutual assistance between Member States, which facilitates the implementation, application and enforcement in practice of the posting rules.
All activities under IMI-PROVE programme are specifically tailored to meet the needs of the IMI users and the National Liaison Officers for posting of workers.
Legal framework:
- Directive 96/71/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (posting of workers directive)
- Directive 2014/67/EU (enforcement directive)
- Directive 2018/957/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 June 2018 amending Directive 96/71/EC concerning the posting of workers in the framework of the provision of services
- Directive 2006/22/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (and Directive 2020/1057), both on road transport.
POSTING 360
This programme aims to improve the exchange of information, enhance administrative cooperation and increase knowledge on EU and national rules on the posting of workers among relevant stakeholders.
Events News
POSTING 360 is a mutual learning and understanding programme run by ELA in cooperation with the European Commission. Its aim is to support cross-border cooperation among the national authorities and social partners is to ensure the effective and fair enforcement of both EU and national rules on posting of workers.
The programme convenes experts with backgrounds in labour law and social security coordination to:
- Examine the challenges in the implementation and enforcement of the posting rules;
- Promote and support mutual learning and understanding among experts;
- Plan and execute activities to identify and promote best practices;
- Explore potential collaborations with other EU bodies responsible for areas of specific interest.
The programme has six main priorities:
- Implementation of the Directives on the Posting of Workers;
- Posting of third country nationals;
- The social security coordination aspects of posting;
- Digitalisation opportunities for authorities, employers and workers;
- Effective administrative procedures and control measures;
- Collection and improvement of data on posting.
Twice per year, ELA convenes the ELA Forum on the Posting of Workers. This forum brings together experts from the Commission, the Member States, the Administrative Commission, the European Parliament and the social partners to discuss the main challenges and find potential solutions.
In addition, ELA organises ad-hoc activities e.g. specialised workshops, training sessions, study visits, and bilateral or multilateral meetings between the authorities. These activities aim to foster a deeper understanding of the rules on posting of workers and the main priorities of the POSTING 360 programme, and facilitate effective cooperation among the involved parties.
Background
ELA's role and tasks: ELA, in collaboration with the European Commission, organises the activities under the POSTING 360 programme to facilitate cooperation and exchange of information between national authorities, social partners and experts in the field.
To support cross-border cooperation, ELA organises a variety of activities, such as:
- Forum/Multilateral expert meetings
- Specialised mutual learning workshops
- Study visits
- Training programmes
- Calls for good practices
- Bilateral and multilateral cooperation projects
- Analytical reports focusing on cooperation practices, challenges and opportunities
In addition, ELA also extends logistical, technical and financial support to meetings held between the interested national authorities, thereby facilitating effective and efficient cooperation.
Legal framework:
- Directive (EU) 2018/957 amending the posting of workers Directive.
- Directive 96/71/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (posting of workers directive)
- Directive 2014/67/EU (Enforcement Directive)
TRANSPORT SUPPORT
This programme seeks to promote common understanding of the applicable EU and national rules in the transport sector and encourage the use of the European Register for Road Transport Undertakings (ERRU) system.
TRANSPORT SUPPORT is a mutual learning and understanding programme aimed at promoting cross-border cooperation among the competent national authorities and enhancing administrative capacity in the transport sector. The programme encompasses all transport sectors, with a primary focus on social legislation in the road transport and the aviation sector.
The programme is run by ELA in cooperation with the European Commission, the programme facilitates the networking of EU and national practitioners from the national authorities and the social partners.
The programme promotes activities targeting experts from the competent national authorities responsible for the implementation and enforcement of social legislation and the sector-level social partners. The objectives of these activities are to:
- Promote a common understanding of the applicable EU and national rules in the transport sector;
- Improve users’ knowledge about the available electronic tools for the information exchange between the national competent authorities;
- Encourage expert dialogue and solutions to operational challenges in the application of the relevant rules.
Background
ELA is committed to support the implementation of the social legislation in the field of international road transport, including the posting of drivers and rest and driving times. Since 2022, ELA has worked together with the European Commission to promote trainings and expert sessions to foster a better understanding of the EU labour mobility rules and mutual learning of the national rules and enforcement practices. In this regard, ELA also raises awareness about the effective use of the European Register on Road Transport Undertakings (ERRU) within the changes introduced in the ERRU System under the Mobility Package I.
In the field of civil aviation, ELA aims at collecting expertise on the practical challenges concerning the implementation of the labour mobility and social security coordination rules, and organising specialised workshops and training activities.
ELA's role and tasks. ELA supports cross-border cooperation by organising:
- Specialised workshops;
- Study visits;
- Capacity-building activities (e.g. trainings and dissemination of good practices);
- Support to bilateral or multilateral meetings.
Legal framework:
All topics within ELA’s legal mandate related to transport and with a clear relation to cooperation.
Regulation (EC) No 561/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council; Directive 2006/22/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council; Regulation (EC) No 1071/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council.
And to a lesser extent:
- Directive 96/71/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council; Directive 2014/67/EU; Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 and Regulation (EC) No 987/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council; Regulation (EU) No 492/2011; Directive 2014/54/EU;
The PROGRESS Programme was developed by ELA in collaboration with the Technical Commission for Data Processing (TC) and Administrative Commission for Coordination of Social Security Systems (AC), with the aim to enhance the use and effectiveness of the European Electronic Exchange of Social Security Information (EESSI) System.
The programme strives to enhance the efficiency of digitalization in social security coordination, thereby contributing to safeguard social rights of EU mobile citizens in cross-border situations.
The EESSI is an IT system that facilitates the exchange of information of the social security institutions across the EU and other participating countries related to for instance determination of the country of social insurance, sickness benefits, pensions, unemployment benefits, family benefits, benefits related to occupational diseases and accidents at work.
The overarching objective of the programme is to supportthe implementation and usage of the EESSI system by enhancing knowledge and understanding of the users from competent national institutions.
The programme supports the :
- Organisation of business trainings related to the use of EESSI and aims to enhance the user’s understanding of the system;
- Identification, collection and sharing good practices in effective national implementation of EESSI;
- Mapping implementation strategies of participating countries, their national organisation and capturing them from EESSI landscapes;
- Supporting a community of EESSI users to share experiences, insights and discuss solutions to common challenges.
Background
ELA's role and tasks: Through the PROGRESS programme, ELA assists the Member States and the Commission on a variety of aspects related to the operation of the EESSI system. This is achieved by implementing activities within the four distinct work streams of the programme.
ELA places a strong emphasis on fostering cooperation with the Member States and relevant stakeholders to ensure the programme's success and in maximising its added value through the use of digital tools and collaborative events.
The activities of the programme are tailored to meet the specific needs of the competent national authorities and EESSI users across of all participating countries.
Legal framework:
- Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on the coordination of social security systems.
- Regulation (EC) No 987/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 September 2009 laying down the procedure for implementing Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 on the coordination of social security systems.
Resources:
EESSI Page on the official website of the European Union: https://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=1544&langId=en
Remit of Administrative Commission for the Coordination of Social Security Systems and Technical Commission on Data Processing: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32021D0316(01)&rid=5
Reports and publications
ELA reports to collect and analyse challenges and practices in cross-border cooperation in distinct fields of labour mobility. These reports aim to identify potential initiatives that could improve cooperation among stakeholders, facilitated by ELA’s support and future activities.
Report - Cooperation practices, possibilities and challenges between Member States – specifically in relation to the posting of third-country nationals
The report provides practitioners from the Member States, the social partners and experts with a better understanding of the EU rules, challenges in the application of the legislation and enhancement of cross-border cooperation in relation to the posting of third-country nationals.
Report - Cooperation obligations and practices in the enforcement of EU rules on International Road Transport in the EU
The report provides practitioners from the Member States, the social partners and experts with an overview of cross-border cooperation obligations, challenges and possible activities in relation to the international road transport sector.
