Birth of a new EU agency

© Belga Image Assisting Member States and the European Commission in their effective application and enforcement of EU law related to labour mobility, and in the coordination of social security systems, across the EU: this is what the regulation creating the European Labour Authority (ELA) states. The regulation entered into force on 31 July 2019. It goes on to state that ELA should also “aim in all its activities at ensuring cooperation, avoiding overlaps, promoting synergies and complementarity with other decentralised EU agencies and specialised bodies”. Amongst these agencies, this special feature will focus on those relating to employment and social policy, of which there are now five as, indeed, ELA has the status of an EU decentralised agency. Executive role The first of four objectives listed in the regulation creating ELA is to facilitate people and companies’ access to information on rights and obligations regarding labour mobility across the EU single market (which also includes Iceland, Lichtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland), as well as to relevant services (notably EURES, the European job mobility portal). The regulation lists three other objectives, that show that ELA has very much of an operational role: they have to do with enhancing cooperation between EU Member States in enforcing relevant EU laws across the Union. This includes facilitating concerted and joint inspections, mediating in cases of cross-border disputes between EU countries and tackling undeclared work. ELA will also carry out analyses and risk assessment on issues of cross-border labour mobility, and support Member States with capacity building. The Authority’s remit includes social security coordination, free movement of workers, the posting of workers, and highly mobile services – notably sector specific rules in the area of international transport. Moreover, it will support cooperation on tackling undeclared work and other situations that put at risk the proper functioning of the internal market, such as letterbox entities and bogus self- employment. ELA – Facilitating cross-border labour mobility SPECIAL FEATURE A European Labour Authority (ELA) has been established to better address today’s cross-border mobility challenges Inspection on a construction site: one of the objectives of ELA is to facilitate joint inspections and mediate in cases of disputes between EU countries. 1 4 / SOC I A L AG E NDA / NOV E MB E R 2 0 1 9