Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on measures facilitating the exercise of rights conferred on workers in the context of freedom of movement for workers

Freedom of movement for workers is one of the four fundamental freedoms on which the Single Market is based. It is one of the core values of the European Union and a fundamental element of EU citizenship. Article 45 TFEU enshrines the right of EU citizens to move to another Member State for work purposes. It specifically includes the right not to be discriminated against on the grounds of nationality as regards access to employment, remuneration and other conditions of work. It also includes the removal of unjustified obstacles to the freedom of movement of workers within the European Union. The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union confirms in Article 15(2) that every citizen of the Union has the freedom to seek employment, to work, to exercise the right of establishment and to provide services in any Member State.

Regulation (EU) No 492/2011 details the rights derived from the freedom of movement of workers, and defines the specific areas where discrimination on the grounds of nationality is prohibited, in particular as regards:
– access to employment
– working conditions
– social and tax advantages
– access to training
– membership of trade unions
– housing
– access to education for children.

Article 45 TFEU and Regulation (EU) No 492/2011 are directly applicable in all Member States. This means that there is no need to adopt national legislation to transpose those provisions. Any national authority at any level and any employer, whether public or private, must apply and respect the rights stemming from those provisions.

In spite of this, EU citizens who want to move or who actually move from one Member State to another for work purposes continue to face problems in exercising their rights. The difficulties they face go some way to explaining why geographical mobility between EU Member States has remained at a relatively low level: according to the EU-Labour Force Survey, in 2011, only 3.1% of the working-age European citizens (15-64) lived in an EU Member State other than their own.

The gap between the rights that EU citizens have in theory and what happens in practice has been underlined in several reports from institutions and, increasingly, the European Union is being called upon to act in this regard. 2013 has been designated as the European Year of Citizens. It will focus on citizens' rights and on EU action ensuring that these rights are effectively enforced for the benefit of citizens and the EU as a whole.

In order to tackle these problems specific objectives have been identified:
– lessening discrimination against EU migrant workers on the grounds of nationality;
– closing the gap between EU migrant workers' rights on paper and their exercise in practice by facilitating the correct implementation of existing legislation;
– reducing the incidence of unfair practices against EU migrant workers;
– and empowering EU migrant workers to ensure their rights are respected.

EUR-Lex: COM(2013)236: Follow the progress of this proposal through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2013:236:FIN

EUR-Lex: SWD(2013)148: Executive summary of the impact assessment http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=SWD:2013:148:FIN

EUR-Lex: SWD(2013)149: Impact assessment http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=SWD:2013:149:FIN

ESO: Background information: Employment: Commission proposes to improve application of workers' rights to free movement http://www.europeansources.info/record/press-release-employment-commission-proposes-to-improve-application-of-workers-rights-to-free-movement/

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