Conference on labour mobility and ensuring balace of labour market, organised in Bucharest
The Conference “Labour mobility, a key element in the balance of labour market”, organized in Bucharest, in the context of holding the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, gathered representatives of the Directorate‑General Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion (DG EMPL) in the European Commission, of Eurofound, as well as EURES experts from the Member States.
The topic of the conference in Bucharest tackled one of the basic rights guaranteed to European citizens, namely the freedom of workers to seek a job in any Member State. Discussions focused on the benefits and challenges on the EU i labour market, as well as on institutional cooperation between EU Member States in support of mobile workers.
”From data synthesized at the level of the European Union’s institutions, by 2017, 17 million European Union citizens lived or worked in a Member State other than their nationality, the figures being double compared to a decade ago. Considering this reality, an effective cooperation between national authorities and a concerted administrative action is needed to manage the increasingly integrated labour market, ensuring a positive impact on the economies of the Member States, workers and national enterprises”, stated the Minister of Labour and Social Justice, Marius Budăi.
One of the priorities of the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union refers to labour mobility and equal working conditions as factors that generate growth and competitiveness in the host countries and the countries of origin and on the internal market of the European Union.
Therefore, the conference paid a special attention to patterns of labour mobility aimed at developing geographic and occupational mobility of workers in equitable conditions, through the development and strengthening of the existing EU tools.
„I believe that facilitating the mobility of European Union’s workers, while developing real policies for integration of immigrants in the Member States’ societies, are extremely important factors that can contribute to increasing the capacity to respond to new challenges and to implement the measures established by the European Union in this context. A correct and uniform implementation of the European regulations on free movement of workers within the EU and social security of mobile workers, as well as the transposition and assessment of new legislation in the field of labour relations can facilitate the mobility of workers within the Union and guarantee conditions of equitable competition for the companies in the European Union, as well as respect for their rights”, stated, in the opening of the Conference, the Deputy Secretary‑General of the Ministry of Labour and Social Justice, Daniela Moroșanu.
The freedom of workers to seek a job in any Member State is a right enshrined in the founding Treaties of the European Union and it is an integral part of the concept of European citizenship, of the rights and obligations resulting from European citizenship and an essential tool for the achievement of the Single Market, which is an area without internal frontiers, as well as a space of freedom, security and justice where the free movement of persons is ensured.
During the debates several aspects aimed by the objectives of the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union were reflected, namely the identification and analysis of the factors determining the external labour mobility, as well as EU mobile workers’ intention to return; legal, administrative and practical barriers affecting the mobility of workers on the Internal Market of the European Union and cooperation between Member State’s administrations to reduce/eliminate undeclared work, avoiding the risks of discriminations, abuses and breach of the provisions of labour legislation.