STATEMENT ON WORKER MOBILITY

The freedom of movement – of capital, goods, services and people – are the corner stones on which European integration is built. Born out of these fundamental principles, the Single Market has helped to bring economic growth, employment opportunities and prosperity to Europe’s citizens - creating almost 3 million new jobs in Europe. 8.1 million EU citizens out of over half a billion live and work in a member country other than their own. That is 3.3% of the total European workforce.

Worker mobility brings important economic advantages for businesses and workers. Central to achieving this is ensuring that the appropriate conditions and policies are in place at European and national level. Therefore, in the coming years BUSINESSEUROPE believes that there is a need to promote free movement by overcoming barriers to worker mobility, fostering mobile workers’ employment participation and encouraging circular mobility to maximise the benefits of mobility for countries of origin and destination.

The challenge for the EU mobility policy in the coming years will be twofold: First, it will need to facilitate mobility through concrete EU actions. Second it will need to sustain and improve political acceptance of worker mobility by addressing the loopholes in the relevant EU and national regulations on free movement of workers in order to prevent abuses and avoid adverse effects on countries of origin as well as on countries of destination. This statement is BUSINESSEUROPE’s contribution ahead of presentation of the European Commission’s labour mobility package and in view of ongoing debates about worker mobility.