Commission aims to make cross-border work easier and more digital.

People who work temporarily in another EU country often need social security certificates, have to submit notifications or have their qualifications recognised. The European Commission aims to make these procedures simpler and more digital and presented its Fair Labour Mobility Package on 15 September.

In addition to an overarching communication, the package comprises five legislative proposals. Key elements include the digitalisation of social security certificates through the European Social Security Pass (ESSPASS), strengthening the European Labour Authority (ELA), and improving the cross-border recognition and portability of qualifications.

With the package, the Commission primarily aims to reduce the administrative burden for workers, businesses and public authorities. Data and certificates should be easier to exchange and, where possible, should not have to be provided multiple times. At the same time, social and labour rights in cross-border employment should be effectively enforced.

ESSPASS aims to simplify the handling of social security documents

The proposal for a regulation on ESSPASS is particularly relevant for German social security institutions. People who work in several EU Member States or are temporarily posted abroad need to be able to demonstrate which social security legislation applies to them. This requires, for example, an A1 certificate. In future, ESSPASS is intended to provide the digital infrastructure for applying for, issuing and verifying such certificates across borders.

The Commission plans to build on existing European tools such as the European Digital Identity Wallet (EUDI Wallet) and the Single Digital Gateway. The “once-only” principle also plays an important role. Data that has already been submitted to an authority should, where possible, not have to be provided again. This is intended to reduce the administrative burden for workers, businesses and public authorities.

The ESSPASS initiative is intended to gradually cover all documents used to prove social security rights in the context of cross-border mobility. The A1 certificate, which demonstrates which social security legislation applies to a person working across borders, will be the first document covered. The European Health Insurance Card (EHIC), which according to the Commission is already used by more than 253 million people in the EU, is to follow at a later stage.

The proposal also provides for binding deadlines for issuing the documents in order to increase planning certainty for citizens and businesses. Paper certificates will remain possible.

A1 and e-declaration to be more aligned

When companies temporarily post employees to another EU Member State, they often have to go through several procedures. In addition to the A1 certificate, they are also required to submit a labour-law notification of the posting in the respective Member State. These procedures have so far largely operated separately. The European Commission intends to change this in the future by better aligning the procedures for the A1 certificate and e-Declaration at a technical level. The information required for both procedures should be harmonised to a greater extent, and data that is already available should be reused wherever possible in accordance with the “once-only” principle. This would mean that companies would not have to enter the same information multiple times.

Together with the Member States, the Commission also intends to work on technically linking national procedures for the A1 certificate with the public interfaces of the Internal Market Information System (IMI). According to the Commission, consultations on this have already begun in 2026. However, such technical integration requires the joint e-Declaration portal to be widely adopted by the Member States.

More powers for the European Labour Authority (ELA)

With the Fair Labour Mobility Package, the Commission not only aims to simplify procedures but also to improve cooperation between authorities in the context of cross-border employment. To this end, the European Labour Authority is to be given additional powers. Among other things, it is to have improved capabilities for risk analysis, enabling national authorities to carry out more targeted inspections of cross-border employment. Cross-border cooperation, as well as joint and coordinated inspections by Member States, are also to be strengthened and facilitated through national liaison officers.

In addition, the ELA’s mandate is to be expanded to place greater emphasis on combating undeclared work and addressing the employment of third-country nationals. The mediation procedure for resolving cross-border disputes between Member States is also to be simplified. For social security institutions, one question will be particularly important as the legislative process moves forward: How will the ELA’s new responsibilities be clearly delineated from the existing structures for social security coordination?

Further initiatives announced for 2027

In its accompanying communication, the Commission is already looking beyond the legislative proposals presented. It has announced further initiatives for 2027. These include a legislative proposal on cross-border telework for start-ups and scale-ups, as well as further steps to simplify and modernise EU rules on the coordination of social security systems.

The five legislative proposals of the Fair Labour Mobility Package will now be considered by the European Parliament and the Council. According to the Commission’s estimates, the package could generate total economic benefits of around 5 billion euros by 2040. Around 1 billion euros of this is expected to result from simplification measures.