European Commission unveils package to ease cross-border work within the EU
The European Commission has launched a Fair Labour Mobility Package aimed at removing bureaucratic barriers that make it hard for Europeans to work in another EU country. The move comes as NATO allies debate a tougher response to Russian hybrid attacks and the EU still hasn't ended its twice-yearly clock changes.
The European Commission on Tuesday presented a new initiative called the Fair Labour Mobility Package, designed to make it easier for Europeans to work in other EU member states. According to the Commission, a striking imbalance currently exists within the bloc: a jar of peanut butter can cross internal EU borders more easily than a worker can move their job from one member state to another.
The Commission identifies differing national social security systems and complicated recognition procedures for professional qualifications as the main obstacles. These factors make cross-border employment bureaucratically burdensome, even though free movement of labour is formally guaranteed under the EU's single market.
The package's unveiling was examined in detail on Politico's Brussels Playbook podcast, where hosts discussed both the initiative's potential impact and its prospects of translating into practical change for workers.
Other topics on the agenda
The same episode also covered NATO, where allied nations are debating a tougher collective response as Russian sabotage operations and hybrid attacks increasingly affect countries closer to the alliance's borders.
The podcast also revisited the long-running issue of seasonal clock changes. Eight years after then-Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker pledged to end the practice of shifting clocks twice a year, Europe continues to do so, with no resolution yet in sight.
