Questions and Answers on Fair Labour Mobility Package

How will the package make labour mobility fairer for people moving across EU borders?

Documents proving social security and health insurance as well as qualification will be available digitally in the EU Digital Identity Wallet. It means they will become easier to check across borders and will help citizens use their social security rights, health insurance and qualifications.

The skills portability initiative will make it easier for workers to use their qualifications across the EU, both in regulated and non-regulated professions. New qualifications will be issued digitally free of charge for everyone, whether or not they work in another Member State.

People returning to their country will also benefit from the new rules. Ensuring that that the rules which apply will be properly enforced, wherever the worker comes from, will bring better protection from abuse for mobile workers, and it will protect those who stay from unfair competition.

The package will also strengthen the role of the European Labour Authority (ELA) in supporting people working abroad and enforcing EU labour mobility and social security coordination rules.

How will the package support businesses?

The European Social Security Pass (ESSPASS) will reduce paperwork and provide more legal certainty for businesses operating across EU borders. It will be easier for them to follow the rules when sending employees abroad for a short time. Standardised procedures, binding issuance deadlines and faster verification will reduce administrative burden and waiting times. Common information requirements for requesting the so-called ‘portable document A1' (PD A1), which is needed for posting workers temporarily in another EU country, will provide better interoperability with the e-declaration portal. That way, the same data is not submitted twice for the posting of workers. This is particularly important for SMEs, which represent 99% of EU businesses, and sectors such as construction and services.

The skills portability initiative will enable employers to better understand and compare qualifications and skills obtained across the EU and to instantly check their authenticity. This can make hiring people easier and faster, while also reducing the risk of diploma fraud. Qualifications needed to access regulated professions will be recognised more swiftly across borders. As processing times are shortened from 4 months to 11 weeks (and to 5 weeks in the case of automatic recognition), employers will have faster access to qualified professionals across EU Member States.

Common rules for the recognition of qualifications of non-EU nationals will also help EU employers accelerate recruitment of talent from outside the EU. The strengthened mandate for ELA will also make it easier for businesses to hire workers from other EU countries. Through better information, advice and job-matching via EURES, employers will more easily find the skills they need across the Single Market.

How will the package support national administrations?

Public administrations will have stronger tools to fight fraud and enforce existing EU rules. ESSPASS will help social security offices, labour inspectors and healthcare providers verify the authenticity and validity of social security documents quickly and directly across Europe with estimated total savings up to €205 million over 12 years. Digital signatures could make forgery significantly harder to commit and easier to detect, with potential fraud savings of up to €277 million.

With the revision of the mandate of ELA, cooperation between administrations in solving cross-border disputes will be easier though an enhanced mediation procedure. Cooperation in joint and concerted inspections will further be strengthened with the creation of dedicated national inspection liaison officers and with enhanced capacity of the authority to provide risk analysis based on access to personal data and EU level databases.

The skills portability initiative will make it easier for national authorities to process recognition applications from EU citizens across the Single Market and from non-EU nationals. In addition, it will facilitate more efficient exchanges both between authorities and with applicants and will reduce administrative workload.

Using digital documents across borders

How will ESSPASS work in practice?

ESSPASS will allow people to request, receive and use social security documents fully online. The European Health Insurance Card will be issued in 24 hours maximum.  The request for the “A1” document for posted workers, which shows which country's social security system covers a posted worker will be further standardised. Through the EU Digital Identity Wallets, people will be able to store and present these documents digitally on their phone, while administrations will be able to verify them instantly and securely. Paper versions will remain available and will carry verifiable security features so that they can also be checked instantly.

What does it mean that qualifications obtained in the EU will have to be issued digitally?

Under the proposed Skills Portability Act, new and recent qualifications will be issued in a standard digital format in the EU Digital Identity Wallet, making them portable and easier to verify across EU borders. This will cover all qualifications most relevant for the labour market, from secondary school to doctoral degrees. Qualifications awarded in the ten years before entry into force will be available digitally within two weeks, upon request, and a mechanism will be put in place to also issue older qualifications.

In addition, a new EU online tool in Europass - the EU platform for skills, qualifications and career information - linking all national databases of qualifications, will provide an easy and free resource for employers and workers who would like to compare the content of qualifications gained in different Member States. Digitalisation changes the format, not the value of a qualification. Whether a qualification gives access to a regulated profession remains a decision for national authorities.

When will these digital documents be available?

The Digital Wallet should be available to people and companies across the EU by the end of 2026. Digital qualifications will be integrated into the wallet three years after the proposal enters into force. The portable document A1 for posted workers will be digitalised one year after entry into force, followed by the European Health Insurance Card and other social security documents after three years. Paper and alternative channels remain available throughout.

After entry into force of the new rules on the digitalisation of qualifications, Member States will have three years to implement them. The revised Professional Qualifications Directive and the directive on the recognition of qualifications of non-EU nationals provide for transition periods of two years.

Will people still be able to use paper documents or access services without a digital wallet?

Yes. Paper versions will remain available on request for social security documents and qualifications, even as digital formats will become the default. No one is required to hold a digital wallet. Paper social security documents will carry security features allowing them to be verified and must continue to be accepted by the administrations.

Recognising skills and qualifications across the EU

What will change for the recognition of professional qualifications?

The skills portability initiative will modernise procedures for recognising professional qualifications in the single market. The new initiative makes targeted changes to the Professional Qualifications Directive to reduce paperwork, shorten processing times (from 3 months to 5 weeks in the case of automatic recognition and from 4 months to 11 weeks for all other recognition applicants) and improve accountability of administrations, lower fees, improve the information provided to citizens, and strengthen administrative cooperation between national authorities. The legal framework is also extended to cover EU citizens who obtained qualifications outside of the EU.

Introducing a unified European digital workflow will accelerate processing times while cutting administrative burden and costs for both competent authorities and applicants. Applications and supporting documents will be accepted in all EU languages, cutting certified translation costs. Administrative costs savings for competent authorities and applicants jointly are estimated at EUR 486 million until 2040. The  

The initiative also introduces the first common training framework for physiotherapists, allowing those who meet common minimum skills and competences defined under the framework to have their qualifications recognised automatically across participating Member States. This will help address shortages where they are most acute. Furthermore, the Commission has identified a list of priority professions in key sectors for which future common training frameworks could be developed. Member States remain free to decide which professions they regulate and what training leads to them.

What do the new rules mean for people with qualifications obtained outside the EU?

A new Directive will set common rules for recognising qualifications obtained outside the EU. It will simplify procedures through aligned documentation requirements, fixed deadlines and appeal rights, reducing waiting times and paperwork for both applicants and employers. The recognition of a qualification does not confer any right to enter, reside or work in the EU.  

The Commission will provide support services to verify the authenticity of qualifications issued outside of the EU. The new rules framework also includes automatic recognition for learning programmes in professions with EU-wide minimum training requirements. This will help address labour shortages in professions such as doctors and nurses, while maintaining high standards of patient safety and professional service. Recognition decisions will not be transferrable between Member States.

When will people start benefitting from the skills portability initiative?

People will start seeing the benefits of the Skills Portability Initiative as the new measures are adopted and implemented. Some benefits could be available around two years after entry into force, with further key measures expected around three years after entry into force.

• Regulation on digital and comparable qualifications:  three years after entry into force, digital qualifications should become available through the EU Digital Identity Wallet, making them easier to access and share.
• Amending Directive on professional qualifications:  three years after entry into force, faster and more secure recognition procedures should start to apply.
• Directive on simpler recognition rules for non-EU citizens: two years after entry into force, simpler procedures should make it easier to have qualifications obtained outside the EU recognised.
• The common training framework for physiotherapists will apply once the scrutiny period for the Council and European Parliament has concluded, i.e. is after a maximum of four months.

Could automatic recognition of non-EU qualifications lower European professional standards?

No. Automatic recognition does not mean that all non-EU qualifications are automatically accepted. It will apply only to qualifications from specific, pre-approved training programmes that meet EU-wide minimum training and quality standards.

The system will cover specific regulated professions, such as doctors, general care nurses, dentists, midwives, veterinarians, pharmacists, and architects. Before recognition, the relevant training programmes and institutions will undergo a rigorous EU-level assessment, including independent EU review, on-site visits and direct checks of the training environment. Approvals will be time-limited, publicly reported, and open to challenge by Member States if justified doubts arise. This applies only for professions for which EU minimal training requirements are already in place. Member States remain in control of language, registration and professional conduct requirements. The cost of reviewing training programmes is borne by the applying institutions.

Strengthened mandate for the European Labour Authority

What does the European Labour Authority do?

ELA helps EU countries cooperate to apply and enforce rules that guarantee fair labour mobility. It coordinates labour inspections, resolves cross-border disputes between national authorities, and helps people and businesses work and operate across borders. Since 2021, ELA has supported 347 cross-border labour inspections, rising from 10 in 2021 to 138 in 2025). These inspections checked almost 25,000 workers in sectors like transport, construction and agriculture. Many revealed serious breaches, including underpayment or non-payment of wages and undeclared or underdeclared work.

ELA also coordinates EURES, the European network of 1,000 advisers who provide information and employment support services for jobseekers, workers, and employers. EURES. ELA facilitates cooperation and information exchange between EURES members and partners, who publish millions of job vacancies every year on the EURES website.

How will the package help tackle undeclared work, underpayment and the exploitation of workers?

Mobile workers will receive better information and advice on their social and employment rights. This will help them better understand their rights when living or working in another Member State.

Better targeted inspections by Member States will also help identify undeclared work, underpayment and other abusive practices. Simpler dispute resolution between Member States and stronger support for enforcement will also contribute to better protection of workers, including more vulnerable non-EU nationals living in the EU.

ELA's mandate will also be expanded to cover non-EU nationals residing in the EU. In particular, joint and concerted inspections will be reinforced to cover also cases related to undeclared work, underpayment and exploitation of workers that involve non-EU nationals. ELA will assist Member States on specific employment and social security provisions under the Employers Sanctions, Seasonal Workers, Temporary Protection Directive and Single Permit Directives.

Is ELA becoming an EU labour inspectorate?

Concerted and joint inspections will remain voluntary, and Member States will decide whether or not to take part in them.

At the same time, ELA will be better able to carry out data analysis and risk assessment and to propose inspections to interested Member States.

In addition, the introduction of new national inspection liaison officers for all Member States will help improve cooperation between EU countries and support inspections.

The same principle applies to mediation, which also remains voluntary.

How will the package address illegal practices in subcontracting chains?

Today's package focuses on strengthening enforcement within the existing framework. In that context, the reinforced mandate of ELA will improve support to Member States in enforcing workers' rights in cross-border situations, including in subcontracting chains.

Potential new EU action on subcontracting chains is currently being assessed as part of the second-stage consultation of social partners on the upcoming Quality Jobs Act. In addition, following the report on the application and implementation of Directive (EU) 2018/957 amending Directive 96/71/EC concerning the posting of workers, ELA is currently mapping existing subcontracting liability schemes across the Member States. This package is not changing subcontracting liability rules.

How will the ELA's mandate be expanded to cover non-EU nationals?

Some non-EU nationals are particularly vulnerable to workplace abuse such as underpayment, excessive working hours, illegal deductions, and bogus self-employment. Excluding non-EU workers from the ELA's activities would create enforcement gaps, enable unfair competition and put pressure on employment and social standards.

To address this, ELA's mandate will be expanded to cover non-EU nationals. In particular, joint and concerted inspections will be facilitated to include cases of undeclared or illegal employment and exploitation of non-EU workers. In addition, ELA will assist Member States on specific employment and social security provisions under the Employers Sanctions, Seasonal Workers,  Single Permit Directive and Temporary Protection Directive.

How will EURES change?

The proposed revision of the EURES framework will make the network simpler, stronger and better connected to other digital tools and services for employment.

The revision will transfer ownership of the EURES portal from ELA to the European Commission. This will enable closer integration with other major EU tools and services, for instance Europass, the EU Talent Pool, and the European Skills, Competences, Qualifications and Occupations classification system (ESCO). This will support more seamless, efficient and user-friendly services for jobseekers, employers and the organisations that assist them.

The revision will also reduce complexity and make the framework easier to manage and more effective by including key operational rules directly in the EURES Regulation, replacing the current fragmented structure of six implementing acts. This streamlining will help to strengthen job matching and improve support for labour mobility across Europe.

How is the proposal on recognition of qualifications of non-EU nationals consistent with the EU policy on migration?

The proposal is consistent with EU migration policy because it helps attract talent and make better use of skills from non-EU countries. By making recognition faster and more transparent, it can help non-EU nationals access jobs that match their qualifications and address labour and skills shortages. This will apply whether non-EU nationals already work and reside in the EU or plan to migrate to the EU for work.

It also complements EU legal migration initiatives, including the EU Talent Pool, which is designed to facilitate international recruitment for occupations facing labour shortages, as well as the Talent Partnerships, by supporting labour market integration through easier recognition of skills and qualifications.

At the same time, recognition of qualifications does not give a right to enter, reside, or work in the EU. These rights remain governed by EU and national migration rules, as the proposal does not affect Member States' right to determine how many non-EU nationals to admit. The Commission's proposal only focuses on recognition procedures as such and does not affect Member States' competences in migration or professional regulation.

For more information

Press release

Factsheet on European Social Security Pass

Factsheet on strengthened European Labour Authority

Factsheet on skills portability initiative