EUROPEAN COMMISSION Brussels, 6.8.2021 SWD(2021) 217 final COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Ex-post evaluation of the operation and effects of Regulation (EU) 2016/589 on a European network of employment services (EURES)

















Accompanying the document REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS



on the operation and effects of Regulation (EU) 2016/589 on a European network of employment services (EURES), workers' access to mobility services and the further integration of labour markets



(submitted pursuant to Article 35 of Regulation (EU) 2016/589)

















{COM(2021) 452 final}



Table of contents 1.Introduction 2.Background to the intervention 2.1. Description of EURES and its objectives 2.2. Baseline and points of comparison 2.2.1. Baseline 2.2.2. Points of comparison 3.Implementation / state of Play 4.Method 4.1. Short description of methodology 4.2. Limitations and robustness of findings 5.Analysis and answers to the evaluation questions 5.1. Relevance 5.1.1. Relevance for intra-EU labour market mobility 5.1.2. Adaptability to a changing context 5.1.3. Alignment with needs of target groups 5.2. Effectiveness 5.2.1. Provision of services to employers and jobseekers 5.2.2. The EURES portal as a matching place

5.2.3. Effectiveness of EURES mobility schemes and cross-border partnerships 5.2.4. Effectiveness of EURES internal support and organisational set-up 5.2.5. Visibility 5.2.6. Sustainability and factors impacting effectiveness 5.3. Efficiency 5.3.1. Cost-effectiveness 5.3.2. The national side of cost-effectiveness 5.3.3. Increase/decrease of administrative burden 5.4. Coherence 5.4.1. External coherence 5.4.2. Internal coherence 5.5. EU added-value 5.5.1. Effects of EURES operations that would not have taken place without EU intervention 5.5.2. Comparison to bilateral or multilateral cooperation 6.Conclusions 6.1. Relevance 6.2. Effectiveness 6.3. Efficiency 6.4. Coherence 6.5. EU added value

6.6. Lessons learnt I.Annex - Procedural information Lead Directorate General (DG), Decide Planning/Commission Work Programme (CWP) references Organisation and timing Exceptions to the Better Regulation Guidelines 68 Consultation of the Regulatory Scrutiny Board (RSB) Evidence, sources and quality II.Annex - Stakeholder consultation III.Annex - Methods and analytical models Glossary Term or acronym Meaning or definition Cross-border partnership EURES cross-border partnership means a grouping of EURES Members or Partners and other stakeholders for long-term cooperation in regional structures in cross-border regions. CV Curriculum vitae. Summary of an individual’s professional and educational qualifications, experience, additional skills and other information of relevance in applying for a job vacancy. EaSI European Union Programme for Employment and Social Innovation (2014-2020). EaSI is an EU-level financing instrument managed by the European Commission to contribute to the implementation of the Europe 2020 Strategy and promote a high level of quality and sustainable employment, guaranteeing adequate and decent social protection, combating social exclusion and poverty, and improving working conditions. ECG EURES Coordination Group. The EURES Coordination Group consists of representatives of the European Coordination Office and all the National Coordination Offices. It acts as a forum for coordination and exchange of best practice to support the implementation and development of EURES activities. ECO European Coordination Office. The European Coordination Office acts as a coordinator, at EU level, to provide horizontal support to EURES National Coordinators, Members and Partners and to facilitate their operations and collaboration. ELA European Labour Authority. ELA was established in 2019, following the entry into force of Regulation (EU) 2019/1149, with the aim to facilitate access to information on labour mobility, support the cooperation between EU countries in the cross-border enforcement of relevant Union law, and facilitate solutions in cases of cross-border disputes between national authorities. EFTA European Free Trade Association. EFTA is an intergovernmental organisation established in 1960 to promote free trade and economic integration to the benefit of its Member States. It comprises four countries: Switzerland, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. ESCO European Skills/Competences, Qualifications and Occupations. European multilingual classification aimed at identifying and categorising skills, competences, qualifications and occupations relevant for the EU labour market, education and training. In accordance with Article 9 of Regulation (EU) 2016/589, “Member States shall cooperate with each other and with the Commission regarding interoperability between national systems and the European classification developed by the Commission”. The Implementing Decision (EU) 2018/1020 establishes that ESCO is this European classification. EU European Union. The Member States of the European Union are: Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland, Sweden and the United Kingdom (until 31 January 2020). EURES Network of employment services and other EURES Members and Partners of the EU-28 countries (UK until 31 December 2020), Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland, and the European Commission. Launched in 1994, the main goal of the EURES network is the support of fair intra-EU labour mobility. EURES services are delivered through a human network of EURES advisers and online through the EURES portal (European Job Mobility Portal). In the framework of EURES services: ·Contact refers to the exchange between a EURES adviser and a jobseeker or employer interested in receiving support through the network. The exchange can be in person, via phone, email or chat. It can cover topics such as general information on EURES, placement support, information on living and working conditions, or cross-border work. ·Job application refers to expressions of interest from workers. ·Job vacancy refers to offers from employers. ·Job placement is effected as a result of a recruitment and placement activity. ·Recruitment event is a physical or virtual event bringing employers and jobseekers together to facilitate the recruitment process. EURES countries EU Member States, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland and UK (until 31 December 2020). EURES mobility schemes EURES mobility schemes aim to provide support to specific groups of jobseekers and to help fill vacancies in sectors with recruitment difficulties. They are financed under the EU Programme for Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI). For the purpose of this evaluation, the relevant EURES mobility schemes are: Your First EURES Job, Reactivate, and Targeted Mobility Scheme. EURES Regulation Regulation (EU) 2016/589 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 April 2016 on a European network of employment services (EURES), workers' access to mobility services and the further integration of labour markets, and amending Regulations (EU) No 492/2011 and (EU) No 1296/2013 GDPR Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation). Labour market imbalances Imbalance between supply and demand in the labour market, which can be driven by underlying skills mismatches, but can also be caused by other conditions. Mobile workers For the purpose of this evaluation, mobile workers are defined as employed citizens who reside in a EURES country other than their EURES country of citizenship. NCO National Coordination Office. NCOs are designated by Member States “to ensure the transfer of available data to the EURES portal and to provide general support and assistance to all EURES Members and Partners on their territory, including on how to deal with complaints and problems with job vacancies, where appropriate in cooperation with other relevant public authorities such as labour inspectorates” (Article 9 of Regulation (EU) 2016/589) PES Public employment services. In EU countries, public employment services (PES) are the organisations, as part of relevant ministries, public bodies or corporations falling under public law, that are responsible for implementing active labour market policies and providing quality employment services in the public interest. PMS Performance Measurement System. The PMS is a performance monitoring tool that comprises a set of jointly defined indicators that measure the performance and the activities of the EURES network, providing a basis for evaluating its functioning. (Article 32 of Regulation (EU) 2016/589, and Commission Implementing Decision 2018/170) Programming Cycle EURES harmonized programming. In accordance with Article 31 of Regulation (EU) 2016/589, the national coordinators are responsible for drawing up annual work programmes for the EURES activities in their national network, and provide activity reports after completion of their work programme. Skills mismatch For the purpose of this evaluation, skills mismatches refer to misalignment between shortages and surpluses in skills. Skills mismatches can be horizontal (by field of occupation) or vertical (by educational attainment). Skills mismatches can be one of the causes of labour market imbalances.



1.Introduction This Staff Working Document provides the ex-post evaluation of the operation and effects of the EURES Regulation (EU) 2016/589 as foreseen in its Article 35. The Regulation reformed the existing EURES network (e.g., improved transparency, enlargement of the network, better service provision). EURES is a European network of 219 organizations across the EU and EFTA Member States committed to facilitate fair labour mobility. These organizations are described as Members, when they offer all the labour mobility services defined in the EURES Regulation, and Partners, when they can only offer part of those services. All Public Employment Services are Members of the network. The mobility services of EURES help the European Union to deliver on the promise of free movement of workers, by providing transparency about vacancies and supply of labour across the Union. The EURES network exists since 1994, well before the EURES Regulation. The network puts in practice the provisions about freedom of movement for workers of Articles 45 TFEU and 46 TFEU. In particular, as per Article 46 TFEU EURES ensures close cooperation between national employment services and facilitates the achievement of a balance between supply and demand in the employment market. While free movement of workers is one of the basic freedoms of the European Union, it is also economically important. Six Member States register less than one million workers and another 11 Member States register between one and five million workers. These rather small labour markets can not be considered self-sufficient in advanced and complex economies. In addition, the remaining 10 Member States with bigger labour markets benefit from an exchange of work force across national borders.

Furthermore, free movement of workers is an important instrument to promote European cohesion. Already the possibility to move freely throughout the Union provides incentives to lagging regions to modernise and increase their attractiveness and it offers to regions with booming labour markets the possibility to attract additional workers. Considering the positive external effects of mobility, public intervention in this area is necessary, also to keep it positive avoiding to distort it into brain drain. This concerns the coordination between areas with surpluses and shortages, practical involvement in the matching process as well as a good understanding of administrative hurdles in exercising mobility rights (recognition of professions, access to the social security system, ensuring that claims can be transferred across systems, issues linked to taxation or housing), so to overcome them. Indeed, the employment guidelines highlight the importance of ensuring assistance to jobseekers, supporting labour-market demand and the mobility of workers. Recent analysis of the impact of the COVID-19 disruption also concludes that job-search assistance will be more important than ever to ease transitions and foster inclusive growth. EURES is a key instrument to achieve this. EURES is the only mobility service that covers all kind of jobseekers and employers, in all EU languages, in all the countries of a large economic region, as an integrated service, both online via the EURES portal and face-to-face via the network of more than 1000 EURES advisers. EURES services are for free for employers and jobseekers. Currently, EURES activities are based on the EURES Regulation and six implementing acts. The EURES ex-post evaluation is required by article 35 of the Regulation: By 13 May 2021, the Commission shall submit to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions an ex post evaluation report of the operation and effects of this Regulation. That report may be accompanied by legislative proposals amending this Regulation. Therefore, the scope of this evaluation is not the EURES network (e.g., provision of trans-national mobility services), but the operation and effects of the EURES Regulation (e.g., improved transparency, better matching, enlargement of the network). Accordingly, the evaluation will not question essential elements of EURES (e.g. the relevance of EURES), but the equivalent questions for the Regulation (e.g. the relevance of the Regulation). However, since the Regulation and the functioning of EURES are closely linked, it is not possible to evaluate the Regulation without also looking into the functioning of the broader EURES framework. The evaluation includes: -the description of the implementing process and status; -the analysis of the Regulation operation and effects in terms of relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, coherence and EU-added value; -an assessment of strengths and weaknesses; and -lessons learnt. The geographical coverage encompasses all countries of the EURES network in the 2016-2020 period – the EU-27 countries, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. The ex-post evaluation refers to the period since 2016, year of adoption of the Regulation, even though some obligations and the implementing acts only entered into force in the following years. For comparison purposes, the evaluation also looks into the situation before the Regulation. While the major part of the work looks back at the effects of the EURES Regulation in the last four years, the evaluation also includes a forward-looking element when analysing potential areas for further development, taking into account the upcoming transfer of the European Coordination Office (ECO) role to the European Labour Authority (ELA). 2.Background to the intervention 1. 2. 2.1.Description of EURES and its objectives The European Commission set up the EURES network through a Commission Decision on 22 October 1993, based on Regulation (EEC) No 1612/68 on freedom of movement for workers within the Community. EURES started operating in 1994, as a network of national employment services and other organisations currently known as EURES Members and Partners. EURES started its operations with the aim of enhancing mutual cooperation based on national interests and needs, and raising awareness about job opportunities and vacancies in other countries.

Since 2011, EURES underwent reforms to reflect changes in the market for recruitment services and new mobility patterns, and to improve its performance. This reform process lead to the EURES Regulation in 2016. The main objectives of the reform were: improved transparency of the network and services delivered; better matching between labour demand and supply through an increase of job vacancies and CVs on the EURES portal; the enlargement of the network through the admission of new EURES Members and Partners; and the development of minimum standards for the provision of support services. The Regulation defines (Article 1) EURES as a framework for cooperation to facilitate the exercise of the freedom of movement for workers within the Union. EURES is a service available to all workers and employers across the Union (Article 4), contributing to voluntary mobility and helping the integration of the labour markets (Article 6). The intervention logic of EURES, summarised below and described in annex III, derives from the need to fulfil its general objectives as set out in Article 6 of the Regulation: a)facilitating the exercise of the rights conferred by Article 45 TFEU and by Regulation (EU) No 492/2011; b)implementing the coordinated strategy for employment and, in particular, for promoting a skilled, trained and adaptable workforce as referred to in Article 145 TFEU; c)improving the functioning, cohesion and integration of the labour markets in the Union, including at cross-border level; d)promoting voluntary geographical and occupational mobility in the Union, including in cross-border regions, on a fair basis and in compliance with Union and national law and practice; e)supporting transitions into the labour market, thereby promoting the social and employment objectives referred to in Article 3 TEU. EURES builds its actions along the following specific objectives defined in the EURES Regulation Impact Assessment: -To achieve a nearly complete pool of job vacancies and CVs on the EURES portal; -To enable the EURES portal to carry out automated matching between job vacancies and CV's in all EU languages, and understanding skills, competences, occupations and qualifications; -To make available basic information on labour opportunities and conditions abroad to any jobseeker or employer; -To assist any interested person with matching, placement and recruitment; -To support Members and Partners through information exchange on national labour shortages and surpluses and the co-ordination of actions across Member States. External factors influencing the intervention include labour market imbalances (e.g. overqualification rate, job vacancy rates and labour shortages) and barriers to mobility (i.e. recognition of competences, language and administrative barriers, limited transparency of information). The EURES network relies on two essential inputs: the EURES Regulation; and the resources (human, infrastructure, and IT services) financed by the Member States with their own sources, or by the EaSI programme in the case of EU actions. The activities performed with these inputs are support services of four types: -General support services for all jobseekers and employers (provision of information, matching of CVs and job vacancies, support to the recruitment processes, and post-recruitment assistance)

-Specific support services in cross-border regions or for defined target groups (e.g. younger jobseekers); provided via the EURES mobility schemes and cross-border partnerships. -Self-service support services via the EURES portal. -Coordination and internal support (e.g. networking events to share best practices, monitoring activities). These activities are expected to lead to the following outputs: -well informed and supported employers and jobseekers, with special attention to those with specific needs (e.g. young jobseekers, cross-border employers); -practical services for jobseekers and employers (e.g. contacts, placements); -a complete pool of vacancies and CVs in the EURES Portal; and -stronger internal coordination of the network. At the level of the expected results, the aim is to achieve smooth, effective and fair labour mobility within EURES countries, more accessible intra-EU labour mobility opportunities, and better integration of labour markets. Overall, these results contribute in the Union towards easy, fair, voluntary, secure and free of discrimination labour mobility, favouring transitions into a labour market with more and better jobs (impacts). The Regulation does not define targets for these expected results and impacts. Their achievement levels are therefore assessed via the specific and operational objectives defined in the EURES Regulation Impact Assessment as detailed in 2.2.2. Points of comparison. EURES structure The Regulation defines that EURES services are delivered through two complementary channels: the EURES advisors’ network, consisting of EURES staff across the network, and the EURES portal with a number of online service tools available. -The backbone of EURES are the Members and Partners, which include Public Employment Services on national and regional level (142), but also social partners, universities, private employment services or other organizations that have undergone an admission procedure, a total of 23 Members and 54 Partners. They are tasked with the operational activities and they provide the network of more than 1000 EURES advisers. -At the national level, EURES is organised by the National Coordination Offices (NCOs), generally linked to either the Public Employment Services or the Ministry of Labour, act as coordinators of the national EURES network, communicate with the European Coordination Office (ECO) and provide performance monitoring data and additional information. -At the European level, the European Coordination Office (ECO), hosted by the Directorate General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion of the European Commission, and being transferred to the European Labour Authority (ELA), provides horizontal support to the NCOs. It provides the EURES portal, IT support and helpdesk services, training programmes for EURES staff, information and communication activities, analyses of labour mobility flows and labour market conditions within the EU, and facilitation of networking and mutual learning events. Together, the NCOs and ECO constitute the EURES Coordination Group (ECG), which has a coordinating role concerning the activities and the functioning of the network. EURES services The key EURES services can be summarised as follows: A.- EURES portal The European Job Mobility Portal is developed and maintained by the European Coordination Office and consists of a number of central elements: database of job vacancies and CVs, information on labour mobility (e.g. living and working conditions, hints and tips for employers and jobseekers), overview of EURES services, contact details of EURES staff, and a helpdesk. In addition, there is an internal section of the Portal, accessible to national coordinators and EURES staff for monitoring, planning and overall coordination and exchange of information within the network.

B.- Support services to jobseekers and employers The general support services provided by EURES Members and Partners include matching and placement activities, and the provision of information and guidance. While these services are provided in all EURES countries, the exact portfolio and way of implementation differ, corresponding to national practices and labour market needs. In particular, the format (e.g. one-to-one counselling, events), way of delivery (e.g. online, on-site) or focus (e.g. sectoral approach, general labour market approach) can differ. The main EURES performance indicators in this regard are summarised as follows: Table 1 : Key EURES performance indicators. Source: EURES harmonised reporting (PMS) . Indicator 2016 2017 2018 2019 Individual contacts between EURES staff and workers 791 101 696 514 2 305 490 3 344 368 Individual contacts between EURES staff and employers 113 694 111 636 194 186 194 789 Job placements facilitated through the EURES Portal or staff N/A N/A 84 580 83 360 Recruitment events attended by EURES staff N/A N/A 23 315 11 159 In addition to these general support services, a number of EURES countries provide specific support services. Around two-thirds of the EURES countries organise post-recruitment activities, which include mainly information and guidance on tax and social security issues. In some cases, support services to families of a recruited employee or language training are also provided. Specific support services targeting youth and linked to apprenticeships and traineeships are implemented unevenly across the EURES countries, as detailed in section 5.1.3. Alignment with needs of target groups. C.- Mobility schemes and cross-border partnerships As a complement to the overall services described in B, three main mobility schemes (Your First EURES Job, Reactivate, and Targeted Mobility Scheme), managed by the European Commission, aim at reaching specific groups of jobseekers (aged 18-35 years or 35 and older) and at helping companies to fill vacancies in sectors with skills needs. At the end of 2019, Targeted Mobility Scheme started to operate while 10 461 jobseekers and 3 007 employers had registered in Your First EURES Job and Reactivate. The main sectors in which placements were realised are Human health and social work, Information and communication, Education, Transportation and storage. In addition, information, placement and recruitment services tailored to frontier workers and employers in cross-border regions are implemented within the framework of EURES cross-border partnerships. Nine partnerships received an EaSI grant in 2018 and 11 in 2019. Eight grants were awarded to cross-border partnerships for 2020 and 2021. D.- Internal support and coordination The work of the EURES network is enhanced by a number of support and coordination activities by ECO. This includes organisation of coordination meetings (five meetings a year), mutual learning events and working groups on selected topics, provision of a regular training programme, reports on occupational and geographic labour mobility, technical guidance, templates supporting the implementation of various aspects of the Regulation, and the internal section for online coordination in the EURES portal. EURES financial approach has evolved in the last years. Until 2015, EURES was financed both at EU and at national level through annual grants deriving from a specific EU budget line. Since 2015, EURES countries are charged to secure their own budget. The EURES Regulation does not provide any financial support. Therefore, the budget for EURES actions has to be provided from other sources, which are different at EU and national level: -At EU level, the EURES axis of the Programme for Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI) finances (during the multiannual financial framework 2014-2020) the horizontal support activities, such as the development and maintenance of the EURES portal, the common training programme, communication, analytical and network activities. EaSI also funds specific projects such as the cross-border partnerships and the mobility schemes, which are managed by EURES members and partners but funded after calls for proposals launched by the European Commission. The annual EURES budget under EaSI is public as Commission Implementing Decision. -EURES countries contribute their resources to the network as they consider appropriate. The financial resources derive from three main sources: national budgets, the European Social Fund (ESF) and the EURES axis of EaSI only for the specific projects mentioned above. The composition of the budget and its volume differ therefore from one EURES country to another. 2.2.Baseline and points of comparison 2.2.1.Baseline Following the mandate of Article 35 of the EURES Regulation (By 13 May 2021, the Commission shall submit to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions an ex post evaluation report of the operation and effects of this Regulation), this evaluation compares the status quo with the situation in 2016, a priori linking any change to the EURES Regulation and its implementation. However, it provides also a wider perspective introducing additional comparative elements. Therefore, the reference scenario for this evaluation would be a situation without the EURES Regulation, so to be able to assess to which extent the Regulation has achieved the expected targets identified in the Impact Assessment. The EURES legal framework prior to the EURES Regulation encouraged Member States to introduce reforms, such as opening up the network to Private Employment Services. It was however, the prerogative of Member States to introduce such reforms depending on their political interests. At the same time, the European Parliament launched a request for annulment of this legal framework with the European Court of Justice, arguing that the Commission had overstepped its implementing powers.

In this context, the first two policy options defined in the Impact Assessment provide a scenario for the potential consequences in the absence of the EURES Regulation: -Policy option 1 (No new action) would have created legal uncertainty, delaying any further reform of the network. The cooperation between Member States as regards intra-EU labour mobility would have continued on a bilateral basis. -Policy option 2 (minimal amendment of the regulation) would have provided legal certainty but would not have introduced clearer and stronger obligations to Member States, who would have cooperated depending on their potentially shifting political interest in mobility. Under any of these two policy options, the Impact Assessment found it difficult that the aforementioned specific objectives could be reached. It concluded: I.The accomplishment of the following two objectives would depend exclusively on voluntary efforts by Member States, thus even falling behind what was then the status quo: -To achieve a nearly complete pool of job vacancies and CVs on the EURES portal. -To enable the EURES portal to carry out automated matching between job vacancies and CV's. II.The following two EURES objectives could have been fulfilled, depending on individual efforts and according to national needs, thus consistency across the EU could not have been achieved: -To make available basic information on the EURES network to any jobseeker or employer. -To assist any interested person with matching, placement and recruitment. III.Finally, one objective could in principle have been achieved in the absence of the EURES Regulation: -To support the network through information exchange on national labour shortages and surpluses and the co-ordination of actions across Member States. However, as under these options, the ‘on-boarding’ of additional Members and Partners was quite unlikely, the information exchange would have happened only among Public Employment Services, missing the opportunity to collect additional information from private partners in an extended network. 2.2.2.Points of comparison Mobility is a right, not an obligation or an aim to be encouraged. Also, support to mobility is not an exclusive competence of a particular organization. Therefore, the Regulation defines EURES as a non-exclusive but far-reaching service open to all workers and employers across the Union interested in cross-border labour mobility. The Regulation does not define EURES either as an adjustment mechanism to economic shocks or regional disparities. Coherently, the Regulation neither does define specific targets for EURES placements nor prescribes privileged target groups, which would be incompatible with the universal right for free movement and its voluntary scope. However, a comparison is needed in order to assess the success of the EURES regulation. Two points of comparison can be considered for the purposes of this evaluation: -the specific and operational objectives defined in the Impact Assessment. -benchmarking EURES against similar services. The following table lists the specific and operational objectives defined in the Impact Assessment, with mention of the section of this evaluation that covers their analysis:

Table 2 : Comparison points considered in the EURES Impact Assessment Point of comparison Section Specific objectives To achieve a nearly complete pool of job vacancies and CVs on the EURES portal 5.2.2. The EURES portal as a matching place To enable the EURES portal to carry out automated matching between job vacancies and CV's, in all EU languages, and understanding skills, competences, occupations and qualifications 5.1.2. Adaptability to a changing context To make available basic information on the EURES network to any jobseeker or employer 5.2.1. Provision of services to employers and jobseekers To assist any interested person with matching, placement and recruitment 5.2.1. Provision of services to employers and jobseekers To support the network through information exchange on national labour shortages and surpluses and the co-ordination of actions across Member States 5.1.1. Relevance for intra-EU labour market mobility Operational objectives 75% of the job vacancies published by employment services in the EU are accessible through the EURES network (i.e. a target for the increase in number of vacancies shared on the EURES Portal) 5.2.2. The EURES portal as a matching place The exchange of CV's on the EURES portal is done on the basis of sharing of CV's available at national level (i.e. a target for the increase in the number of CV's shared on the EURES portal) 5.2.2. The EURES portal as a matching place There is a uniform standard for job vacancies and CV's that is applied by all organisations participating in the EURES network (i.e. a target for consistent application of standards for transparency of labour markets and automated matching) 5.1.2. Adaptability to a changing context All job seekers and employers soliciting the assistance of an organisation participating in the EURES network are informed about mobility support services available at national level, and, when requested, provided with an offer for further assistance (i.e. a target for a consistent application of mainstreaming) 5.2.1. Provision of services to employers and jobseekers EURES is not the only provider of trans-national job matching. However, research shows that there are no similar services that can be used as proper benchmark. There are no public job matching services comparable to EURES. A study compiled in January 2021 jointly by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the UN International Organization for Migration (IOM) identifies only three state-facilitated digital technology platforms, in addition to EURES. These three platforms have helped to increase transparency, fair labour mobility and reduce recruitment costs. However, their features are limited compared to EURES. These platforms focus on digital provision for migration clearance checks, without job-matching features. Human interaction is very limited, provided by private recruitment agencies following their own business agendas. Private hiring platforms and matching on social media can serve as a point of comparison, but only for the EURES services provided in the portal. These private platforms allow their customers to build a profile with their résumé or company description, including job offers; to review other customer’s profiles; to facilitate networking; and to match jobs with vacancies. However, these platforms work most often only in English, for a fee for the recruiting companies, and exclusively online in self-service mode for jobseekers. Both the most known private and public recruitment platforms that could be compared to EURES are purely virtual. According to the ILO-IOM study “digital technologies are not a panacea, and they can only be effective when rigorously complemented by strong legal and policy provisions on the ground that fully uphold labour rights and by proactive follow-up mechanisms by States, employers, and other relevant migration stakeholders […] Private job sites exist to make a profit, and thus often do not include low-skilled or low-paid jobs. Governments can fill this gap by sponsoring job boards specifically targeting low-skilled or low-wage work.” International head hunting companies offer multilingual face-to-face services, often with some on-line support. These companies offer services for a fee and are devoted to highly qualified professionals who need little or no support to find jobs. In fact, most often their customers are the companies that need to recruit scarce highly-paid professionals in niche sectors. Recruitment packages are provided by the recruiting company and include benefits helping relocation such as finding accommodation and schooling. These services are not comparable to EURES, whose customers belong to all sorts of qualification levels and employers. Currently, EURES is the only international mobility service that covers all kinds of jobseekers and employers, for free, in their own languages, both face-to-face and online, in a large economic region. In any case, the aim of EURES is not to compete or replace private or public employment services, but to facilitate that they complement each other, becoming part of the network. 3.Implementation / state of Play The implementation of the EURES Regulation is advancing . Organisational, communication and monitoring aspects have been fully implemented throughout the network, but some other implementation areas, highlighted below, experience delays . The implementation status of the main aspects of the EURES Regulation is summarised below: -The broadening of the network happens at a slow pace. While all EURES countries have established or started preparing an admission system, at the end of 2020, only half of them have reported to have admitted new Members and Partners. -The transparent exchange of job vacancies and CVs between national databases and EURES is still to be completed: All EURES countries have set up a system for transferring job vacancies, but seven Member States are not transferring yet CVs through the single coordinated channel. -The work towards an automated matching on the EURES portal is ongoing but pending on the mapping of national classification systems to the European Skills/Competences, Qualifications and Occupations (ESCO) classification by the deadline (7 August 2021). In parallel, the EURES portal was updated with new search functionalities and design. -The templates to enable harmonised planning and performance measurement across the EURES network are in use since 2018 by all EURES countries. The activities are planned and monitored through the Programming Cycle, a harmonized planning tool that provides a yearly overview of the planned (“work programmes”) and implemented (“activity reports”) activities of the EURES network at national level. The overall performance of EURES is measured through the Performance Management System (PMS). The PMS was introduced in 2018 and, so far, not all EURES countries provide all reporting data with the appropriate quality. Therefore, for substantial parts of the Regulation implementation efforts are still ongoing. This has to be assessed, taking into account that: -The adoption of the Regulation did not complete the legal framework for EURES. Six additional implementing acts were to be adopted in 2017 and 2018. Furthermore, the provision of CVs and vacancies by EURES Members entered into force on 13 May 2018, and the harmonized classification allowing automated matching will enter into force on 7 August 2021, after the deadline for this evaluation.

-Some of the essential changes of the Regulation, particularly the transmission of CVs and the enlargement of the Network through national admission systems, required additional legislative adaptations in some Member States. These have been the areas where Member States have acted more reluctantly, particularly after the introduction of the GDPR in 2018, thus slowing the implementation process. -The implementation was performed without additional resources. The EURES Regulation does not include any budget and Member States have to fund EURES action from their own sources (either national budgets or ESF). As a consequence, the evaluation comes at a moment when the costs of the reform have become evident, but not all the positive effects are observable yet. 4.Method The evaluation was based on evaluation questions linked to the five criteria defined by the Better Regulation Guidelines (Relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, coherence and EU added value). These questions were broken down into sub-questions as agreed with a group of experts from several Commission services (Inter-Service Steering group). The full list of the 30 questions and sub-questions, and the analysis of the criteria built on the intervention logic are described in annex III.a. Following the Evaluation Roadmap published in July 2019, the evaluation was carried out with the support of a study (‘the study’), conducted between December 2019 and November 2020. 4.1.Short description of methodology The study used a mix of evaluation methods including desk research, statistical analysis, a public consultation, surveys, workshops, case studies and interviews with stakeholders and Member States’ officials. It combined quantitative and qualitative data, which were systematically triangulated to answer the evaluation questions. The methodology is explained in annex III to this Staff Working Document. The study builds on the rich stock of EURES monitoring and internal data, but also on multiple sources, cited throughout the study, such as other existing studies, academic literature and statistical data. It also includes seven case studies on specific topics: the single coordinated channel, IT platforms / matching and monitoring tools, cross-border collaborations, extension of the network, and support services to employers and to workers. The case studies covered 10 Member States (Belgium, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden). Input from consultations with a range of actors also contributed to the evaluation. An open internet-based public consultation ran from 31 March 2020 to 30 June 2020. In addition, relevant stakeholders, including employers, jobseekers, national coordinators and EURES Members and Partners were consulted in a targeted way through several fora. Details concerning the consultations and the responses received can be found in annex II. Member States were consulted through 14 workshops and the meetings of the EURES Coordination Group (ECG) from April to November 2020, as part of the study. 4.2.Limitations and robustness of findings Three main limitations of the evaluation should be taken into account: The object of the evaluation cannot be determined with precision. The Regulation comes on an existing network, making difficult to determine whether changes are due to the Regulation or (also) due to other factors. This problem is reinforced by the deadline of the evaluation, which comes at a moment when the Regulation is not yet fully implemented. The evaluation has faced limitations on data availability. Since the Regulation and in particular the harmonized Performance Measurement System (2018) entered into force, a multitude of monitoring data is collected. Given this short period of consolidated monitoring requirements, efforts to improve comparability, quality, complete- and timeliness of reporting are still ongoing. This is even more challenging as many Members and Partners consider the data of placements and performance (in particular in combination with financial data) as sensitive. Previously, the EURES countries were using their national monitoring systems, often based on voluntary reporting. Hence, monitoring information from 2016-2017 and 2018-2019 is not comparable. Concerning financial information, EURES countries provide information about their budgets planned for the following year as part of the Programming Cycle. However, the information is not standardised and also the basis of the cost calculation models differs between Member States. Therefore, each country provides it in a different manner with some of them choosing not to disclose certain details.

Finally, most of the bilateral cross-border flows of workers recorded by Eurostat are not statistically significant or even cannot be disclosed for confidentiality reasons, since it would be possible to identify the individuals given the relative small size of the phenomenon. Limitations in the availability of stakeholders for interviews or workshops also affected the evaluation. Due to the outbreak of COVID-19 and the severe restrictions to mobility, it was not possible to conduct fieldwork for the data collection on the case studies. Moreover, the administrations of certain Member States initially selected for the case studies, were facing staff shortages because of new emerging national priorities with a different focus than EURES. Recruiting participants to the workshops was generally difficult due to data protection issues potentially preventing the disclosure of individual contact details by national coordinators. To overcome these limitations and ensure robustness and consistency of the findings, corrective measures were undertaken: -The unavailable countries were replaced by others, while keeping the overall set of countries analysed coherent, so as to cover all the selected topics. -The fieldwork was replaced by online interviews and workshops. -When data protection restrictions prevented sending direct invitations, national newsletters or anonymous mailings were used instead. -The data was triangulated with several sources of evidence and stakeholders’ opinions from the various consultation activities, where additional questions were included, particularly for national coordinators. -Two validation workshops allowed stakeholders and experts to provide critical input on the preliminary findings. When conclusions include uncertainties, because of data limitations, this is highlighted in the text. 5.Analysis and answers to the evaluation questions This chapter analyses the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, coherence and EU-added value of the EURES Regulation. 4. 5. 5.1.Relevance 5.1.1.Relevance for intra-EU labour market mobility Employment services are, similar to health services, relevant at all times, but their importance and visibility increases in times of crisis. According to 76% of the respondents to the public consultation, EURES provides relevant and modern employment services in line with the needs of European workers and employers, and 85% confirm that EURES contributes to the mobility of workers. This is in line with findings of desk research and the views of EURES national coordinators (23 out of 26 respondents agree) all pointing to the conclusion that EURES is a relevant tool for the EU to ensure the rights granted in Article 45 TFEU.

The EURES portal’s objective of “achieving a nearly complete supply of job vacancies and CVs” is relevant, particularly in a context of increased use of online recruitment. The automated matching function of the EURES portal responds to the expressed need of employers and jobseekers to reduce transaction costs and the duration of the selection process, resulting in a smooth recruiting process. An automated matching tool does not take automated decisions, but facilitates the task of advisors, or even employers and jobseekers in self-service mode. The matching results are ranked along with transparent details on how the job match was calculated, leaving the final decision to the advisor and the interested customer. Aside to the direct benefit of matching automatically jobs and profiles, an automated matching platform can provide analytics, gap analysis, and reports with insights to improve the matching process. The EURES network makes available basic information required by jobseekers and employers’ needs and provides support services. The relevance of these services is confirmed from the case study regarding employers’ needs, requiring guidance and recruitment assistance, particularly in an international context. Similarly, jobseekers seek EURES services mostly for information and recruitment support. These services have been found relevant for addressing barriers to intra-EU labour mobility, such as lack of information on job opportunities and working conditions in other EU countries. The objective “support the functioning of the EURES network through information exchange on national labour shortages and surpluses and the co-ordination of actions across Member States” has been found to respond to labour market needs. In fact, until the outbreak of COVID-19, job vacancy rates were progressively increasing across the EU, reaching 2.3% in 2019. EURES joint analysis reports show that there are complementary differences in labour shortages and surpluses across Europe, with some exceptions in specific sectors (e.g. healthcare and ICT). For instance, “accountants” and “shop sales assistants” were reported as both in surplus and in shortage in different countries, and “bus and tram drivers” were reported in shortage while there was a potentially complementary surplus of “car, taxi and van drivers”. 5.1.2.Adaptability to a changing context The changing context includes 1) changing labour mobility patterns, 2) emerging technologies and recruitment channels and 3) changes in the regulatory context: The reformed EURES network has shown its ability to adapt to changing labour mobility patterns, according to 21 out of 25 national coordinators who expressed their views about EURES’ adaptability to changing labour market patterns considered EURES as responsive to labour market changes. The opinion of the respondents to the public consultation is not conclusive. The stakeholders interviewed in the case studies explain that recently EURES countries started to face similar skills shortages in specific sectors (e.g. healthcare and ICT). To adapt to this new situation, some traditionally sending countries (e.g. Romania), changed their strategic priorities by focusing on attracting foreign employees and providing services to local employers. Indeed, the analysis of the EURES national work programmes shows that half of the countries have been planning their activities based on a thorough assessment of their labour market needs. Specifically, 15 countries in 2018 and 11 countries in 2019 linked the planning of their EURES activities to labour market conditions, in particular the analysis of bottleneck and surplus occupations. In line with the increasing return mobility, EURES national work programmes show an increasing number of activities tailored to returning workers. The COVID-19 disruption provides proof of EURES’ adaptability. Counselling services and the European Online Job Days were available in virtual format beforehand, and became exclusively digital during the pandemic. As a reference, from 2016 to 2019, an average of 27 job days (both online and onsite) were organized per year, while 20 online job days and 1 mixed online-onsite were organized in 2020. The disruption showed also EURES’ vulnerabilities: while countries such as Estonia ensured business continuity of counselling services by shifting to online service provision, in some countries, (e.g. Germany, Ireland) EURES advisers were reassigned temporary to PES national activities. EURES is in general keeping pace with emerging technologies and recruitment channels. National coordinators broadly agree (73%) in their survey that EURES is adapting to the increase in the use of online platforms and social media for job searches and recruitment purposes. However, a large majority (72%) of respondents to the public consultation consider that the EURES portal needs to improve. The analysis of the national activities shows that EURES countries introduce more digital means in offering information and recruitment services. For example, in 2019, around 60% of the European Job Days were hosted exclusively online. The level of adoption of online solutions strongly depends on the national level of digitalisation, which is likely to accelerate as consequence of the COVID-19 disruption. Private hiring platforms and matching on social media can serve as a benchmark for the online EURES services in the portal. These platforms do not provide publicly accessible information on their number of customers, market share or placements, but an overview of well-known online hiring platforms and social media practices shows that they serve the needs of qualified jobseekers that are fluent in English and can handle autonomously relocation and administrative procedures. These platforms mainly target employers looking for specialized profiles and willing to pay to promote their vacancies. EURES is particularly relevant for employers who can profit from free counselling and advertising, and who are willing to employ transparently, for instance, next to their competitors in the EURES online job fairs. EURES services are also particularly relevant for jobseekers with limited or no fluency in foreign languages, in need for support to upscale or relocate, unable to find information on living and working conditions in foreign countries, and concerned about exploitation and in fair mobility practices. Furthermore, the legal status of all employers registered in EURES is checked individually, thus providing for jobseekers more protection than those forms of labour intermediation which operate unregistered and unlicensed on social media, favouring undeclared work and poor working conditions. The EURES portal responds to the trend of using online platforms for job searches. Both employers and jobseekers consistently respond (replies in the range 60% to 84%) that the portal is useful and easy to navigate, has increased employment opportunities and the information provided is of good quality, updated and easy to understand. However, in the written remarks, some of them reported that it could be more user-friendly. Also, the search function still requires manual intervention and a fully automated matching functionality is not yet available. The main limitation is the absence of a harmonized way to encode job vacancies and CVs all over Europe. This limitation will be only overcome when all the EURES countries complete the mapping of their national classifications systems to the European Skills/Competences, Qualifications and Occupations (ESCO) classification. The deadline is set for August 2021. Further than the portal, there has been a major shift between 2018 and 2020 towards the use of social media channels for promoting EURES, with most EURES countries having a social media account. Similarly, ECO opened social media accounts and a video channel, to keep up with the emerging information and communication trends. Further details on media presence are available in section 5.2.5. Visibility. Social media channel 2018 2019 Total Facebook 3 947 673 7 092 504 11 040 177 Twitter 2 119 316 1 265 308 3 384 624 LinkedIn 412 289 1 176 639 1 588 928 To adapt to changes in the regulatory context, EURES can rely on three mechanisms: the discussions at the EURES Coordination Group, the exchange of information on labour mobility and the Programming Cycle (harmonized planning). These mechanisms help EURES countries to identify in a timely manner changes and trends with cross-border impact. However, their existence does not necessarily imply a coordinated response from the EURES network, which normally depends on each national network’s strategic focus and priorities. In any case, national coordinators did not observe relevant changes in this context, either hindering or supporting labour mobility. 5.1.3.Alignment with needs of target groups

The Regulation requires EURES to be available to all workers and employers across the Union without exceptions, preventing creaming and parking effects. Indeed, the Regulation mentions as target groups: any employer interested in recruiting from within the Union (recital 39), and all the citizens of the Union who are searching for employment opportunities in other Member States (recital 46). The Regulation also identifies groups of particular interest: frontier workers and employers in cross-border regions (recital 44), and young jobseekers/graduated in need of upskilling and reskilling through apprenticeships or traineeships subject to an employment relationship (recital 8). Accordingly, both employers and jobseekers are targeted by EURES’ national work programmes. The survey of EURES Members and Partners confirms that 76% of respondents target both jobseekers and employers with their services. In addition, EURES countries provide support for specific sub-groups: frontier workers through cross-border partnerships, young people through EURES mobility schemes, and returning workers through targeted information events. EURES Members and Partners attribute a similar priority to all the proposed groups, except for young workers, whose importance is ranked double by a majority (70 out of 94) of the respondents. The 1 434 respondents of the public consultation also attribute the highest priority to young workers (850 respondents) while cross-border workers or other groups (such as unskilled workers) received less attention. There are no conclusive figures identifying the groups that have used most EURES services. Due to privacy rules, Members and Partners remove personal information (age, gender) from the provided CVs before sending them to the EURES portal, making it impossible to elaborate statistics on the stocks of CVs. In addition, these CVs are not yet harmonized along the European classification (ESCO), creating problems to determine their spread along qualifications or skills. Moreover, neither the employers nor those jobseekers who get a placement have an obligation to report their success back to EURES. The available statistics from the internal harmonised monitoring show that EURES jobseekers are relatively young (those aged 15-34 over 57%, followed by 35-49 at around 25%, and 50+ around 18%). Jobseekers are predominantly in higher qualification levels (slightly more than half of the jobseekers have post-secondary or tertiary education, with the spread among these evolving unevenly overtime; around 48% has secondary education). Men and women are equally represented overall, with a slight majority of men. EURES employers are predominantly SMEs, particularly micro- (less than 10 employees) or small- (10 to 50 employees) enterprises, in line with EU reality, with SMEs representing 99% of all businesses and creating 2/3 of the jobs. The business model of employment services in general is very much based on identifying a job vacancy to which potential candidates can be matched. To implement this demand-based approach and contribute to labour market integration, EURES annual activities are planned, via the Programming Cycle, according to the identified surpluses and bottlenecks in sectors and occupations along the European labour market. The analysis, however, confirms that shortages converge more and more, for example shortages of software skills have become omnipresent in the European Union, making increasingly difficult this approach. Jobseekers and employers’ needs are mostly related to the presence of obstacles to labour mobility within the EU, such as lack of transparent information, the existence of administrative, language and socio-cultural barriers, and challenges in the first months of moving to another country. The provision of information and guidance by EURES advisers and the publication of information on living and working conditions in European countries on the EURES portal respond to the lack of transparent information. This information is also relevant in dealing with administrative obstacles. Overall, the information provided on the portal appears to be useful, up-to-date and of good quality both for jobseekers and employers (replies in the range 60% to 84%). However, jobseekers mentioned examples of additional information that could be included (e.g. more detailed information on rights and obligations, details on taxation and cost of living in each country). This suggests that the current information available can be expanded. In addition, the information presentation could be improved by making it more user-friendly, which was suggested by jobseekers, employers as well as Members and Partners. Obstacles linked to the recognition of qualifications and language proficiency are addressed to some extent by the EURES mobility schemes, as identified in the related case study. However, EURES general support services do not play a central role at present in this field due to budget limitations. Post-recruitment assistance is not widely developed across the network and is often provided only on demand. Moreover, EURES advisers have limited scope to work on cultural barriers or influence political priorities. Looking at frontier workers and employers in cross-border regions, overall cross-border mobility is experiencing an upward trend within the EU. As highlighted in the related case study, the persistent differences between social security schemes, tax administration and other bureaucratic processes across borders lead to the need for access to transparent and complete information on living and working conditions in the neighbouring countries. This need is felt by both workers or jobseekers and employers. The specific labour mobility barriers in cross-border regions, underline the relevance of EURES for this target group. The interviews and workshops organised for the case study show that EURES advisers and cross-border partnerships staff, through the provision of information and guidance, are able to offer correct, detailed and credible information to both jobseekers/workers and employers. Finally, the specific challenges for young jobseekers willing/needing to upskill or reskill highlight the relevance of EURES for this target group. The youth labour market is characterised by relatively high unemployment rates, low quality of employment contracts, and a growing demand for digital and other technical skills. At the same time, a low adaptability of the education systems is observed. To address these limitations, the Council adopted on 30 October 2020 a Recommendation on 'A Bridge to Jobs – Reinforcing the Youth Guarantee', aiming to better support youth employment across the EU, in parallel to EURES activities. EURES advisers, through the provision of guidance and information offer valid support to filling the knowledge gap concerning working conditions abroad and traineeship requirements. Moreover, the EURES mobility schemes provide financial support and respond to the need to gain the skills necessary to gain sustainable access to the labour market. However, apprenticeship and traineeship schemes supported by EURES are not widespread across all countries, as often it is not felt to be a priority, and persisting challenges cannot be tackled by EURES staff due to the lack of a European definition and standards, and the heterogeneity of the national legal frameworks. In addition to the target groups highlighted by the Regulation, the analysis identified two other groups of mobile workers, namely seasonal workers, whose specific needs became obvious during the COVID-19 disruption, and returning workers, a group accounting for 41% of the total of EU-28 movers’ inflows in 2019, with an increase of 11% compared to the previous year . These groups are so far only marginally covered by EURES and their needs should be further monitored. To this end, the portfolio of EURES tools and services provides the possibility to target specific needs of jobseekers and employers, adapting in a proportionate way to the evolving labour market needs, as described in section 5.1.2. Adaptability to a changing context. These tools and services are seen as complementary by experts and employers and are in line with the requirement of Article 45 of the TFEU to provide support in a non-discriminatory way. 5.2.Effectiveness 5.2.1.Provision of services to employers and jobseekers The respondents to the public consultation agree that EURES provides quality information on living and working abroad (74%) and in their search for jobs/candidates (78%). National coordinators, Members, and Partners find nearly unanimously that EURES services, and the information available, raise awareness of intra-EU labour mobility possibilities. These responses suggest that EURES fulfils its objective of making available basic information to any jobseeker or employer.

With regard to the outreach to jobseekers and employers, the EURES Impact Assessment sets as an objective for EURES to provide matching, placement and recruitment assistance to all interested people, but does not provide a quantitative target. The number of individuals assisted is increasing (performance measurement data shows an increase of 45.1% of contacts with jobseekers between 2018 (2 305 490) and 2019 (3 344 368)). Stakeholders’ opinions suggest that almost all customers seeking support could be assisted even though, occasionally, they indicated that the support services are not equally accessible throughout the network. Some jobseekers claim that they did not receive a response after reaching out to EURES advisers. These dissenting opinions would suggest that despite the overall positive figures, more effort is required. Also, the analysis of national activity reports and stakeholders’ feedback shows that support services targeting youth are not equally spread along EURES countries. This is due to the differences in national legislative frameworks for traineeships and apprenticeships, leaving this kind of activities out of the scope of PES in some countries. Jobseekers and employers are generally satisfied with the recruitment support provided, though the satisfaction rate of jobseekers tends to be lower. Concretely, 70% of the jobseekers and 84% of the employers were satisfied with the information and guidance obtained in finding a job/employee abroad. These results are comparable to those of PES. Along all participating countries, most EURES advisers are part of the PES. Therefore, EURES performance is strongly related to national PES performance and to the recognition of the local PES service as a relevant and well-functioning labour market intermediary. Reasons for high satisfaction are linked to the personalised support provided, while negative assessments are associated with the inability to find a placement. In this sense, satisfaction of EURES customers is related to the effectiveness of the recruitment support provided. The difference in the assessment of jobseekers and employers is aligned with the apparent effectiveness of the support received: 17% of the jobseekers and 67% of the employers attributed finding a new job/employee directly to EURES. While it is confirmed that EURES recruitment support services result in intra-EU placements, the number of placements is probably higher than those reported in the performance measurement system, as not all cases of successful recruitment can be monitored by EURES staff or the link between a successful recruitment and EURES support is not always clear. Combining the results from the performance measurement and estimations based on the automatic customer satisfaction survey of the EURES portal, the EURES network has facilitated at least 84 580 placements in 2018 and 83 360 placements in 2019. The 2019 and 2020 Annual Reports on Intra-EU Labour Mobility estimate that 880 000 persons changed country within the EU to work or find a job in 2018, and 825 000 in 2019. EURES placements therefore correspond to 9.6% of active movers in 2018 and 10.1% in 2019. These figures are comparable to PES achievements. They confirm the effectiveness of EURES, favouring transitions into the labour market and therefore contributing to the general objectives of enhancing employment and social inclusion. Given the transnational nature of EURES, an analysis of the network effectiveness per country has to keep in mind the inter-dependencies between countries. Indeed, the success of a country sending jobseekers from sectors with surpluses is determined by the activities in the countries with demanding employers. The increasingly frequent circular mobility – workers move outward and backward to their country of origin – reinforces the network effect. This shows that the beneficiaries of EURES are not the Member States, but employers and jobseekers across the EU. Still, some measurement at national level is possible and public at the Single Market Scoreboard. The scoreboard shows the performance of EURES countries, but given the inter-dependencies among them, it represents rather their different nature, helping to analyse the impact of the national side in the network. The overall performance of the EURES countries for the year 2019 is summarised by the scoreboard in the following table (the implementation of the Regulation has still to be completed, as described in 3. Implementation/state of play): Table 4: EURES overall performance for EURES countries. Source: Single Market Scoreboard 2019 (forthcoming) The overall performance is calculated based on five sub indicators, rewarding high scores (green) and penalizing both low scores (red) and lack of information (grey): Table 5: EURES performance along the 5 scoreboard indicators for EURES countries. Source: Single Market Scoreboard 2019 (forthcoming) [1] Compliance with the EURES Performance Measurement System (0-11) ≥ 7 4 - 6 ≤ 3 [2] IT compliance for the EURES Portal (0-2) 2 1 0 [3] Labour market share > 50% 49-21% ≤ 20% [4] User satisfaction with EURES services (0-10) ≥ 7 4 - 6 ≤ 3 [5] Job placements vs labour mobility > 4% 2-4% < 2% The overall performance Table 4 would suggest that EURES is more effective in 14 countries, while 6 countries would show the least effectiveness. Table 5 shows that compliance with the performance measurement system is widely achieved, while only half of the countries score high on IT compliance and labour market share. The table shows the poorest performances for indicator [5], Job placements vs labour mobility. This indicator shows the relative performance of EURES placements compared to the volume of the mobility in each country. The detailed values are shown in the following graph: Graph 6: EURES performance for indicator [5] Job placements vs labour mobility for EURES countries. Sources: Annual Report on intra-EU Labour Mobility 2018 and Single Market Scoreboard 2019 (forthcoming) based on EURES harmonised reporting (PMS). No values displayed for Bulgaria, Croatia, and Slovakia because the ratio of EURES job-finders to the net mobility rate reflected values higher than 100% (due to comparatively higher values of job finders). Ratios of 0% (e.g. Denmark, Greece) are due to missing values of incoming job-finders, or values equal to 0. Data on labour mobility becomes available with a 2-year delay.

In the country-based analysis countries with consistently big inflows (Germany, UK) or outflows (Poland, Spain) score low. This suggests that a large number of placements happen without the help of EURES when labour mobility is particularly high. This is in line with recent research showing that both national and international movers use public or private employment services only to a certain extent. No clear pattern can be determined when comparing indicator [5] to national capacities (e.g. number of advisers both in absolute numbers and relative to population, with Poland and Germany having high numbers, Spain intermediate and UK among the lowest). This would reinforce the interpretation that the network effect plays a role over the national capacities. Graph 7 : EURES advisors per country. Source: Single Market Scoreboard 2019 (forthcoming) based on EURES harmonised reporting (PMS) No data available for Semester 1 for Czech Republic and France and for both Semesters for Liechtenstein and Norway. The purpose of the performance scoring is to encourage countries to improve their service. So, for instance, if a country does not provide information on performance, it is penalized in the scores without necessarily reflecting a poor actual delivery. Therefore, conclusions concerning the performance based on the scoring should be seen in this context and taken with prudence. 5.2.2.The EURES portal as a matching place The EURES portal facilitates recruitment processes in two ways, following the reform of the Regulation: -First, it collects CVs and job vacancies from EURES Members and Partners and provides search options to EURES advisers and customers, helping them filter and select relevant vacancies or profiles. This service is incomplete because even though all EURES countries have set up a system for transferring job vacancies, seven Member States are not yet transferring yet CVs to the EURES Portal. -Second, the portal allows automated matching of related CVs and job vacancies. This functionality will be fully available only when all EURES countries map their national classifications to the European one (by August 2021). The EURES Impact Assessment defined as an operational objective that “75% of the job vacancies published by employment services in the EU are accessible through the EURES network”. While the data on job vacancies obtained from the national level are not fully consistent and complete , estimates based on the aggregate indicators on job vacancies for eight countries that have submitted complete and valid data have been made. According to these estimates, 61% of the job vacancies available at national level were also available in the portal in 2019. The estimated share of vacancies that these eight countries published in the portal ranged from 4% to 80%, most of them at ca. 50%. These figures are comparable to the information of the Single Market Scoreboard and the feedback from national coordinators, where the majority indicate a share of more than 50% vacancies being published in the portal, but 7 countries indicate less than 50%. The difficulty to collect all national vacancies is a possible explanation why the benchmark of 75% is not met by all EURES countries. The national practices are different from country to country and only some countries require that vacancies are reported to the PES. The broadening of the network with new Members and Partners is expected to increase the number of organisations contributing to the pool of vacancies. So far, only half of the EURES countries have admitted new Members and Partners. With regard to the quantity of CVs accessible through the EURES portal, the Impact Assessment mentions, “If all who currently are registered (1.1 million) are to be considered to belong to this group of persons with "firm intentions", the number of CV's would be increased with about 1.9 million to 3 million”. The number of available CVs at the portal is below the Impact Assessment estimates. In fact, the actual number of CVs available at the start of the EURES Regulation was much lower than 1.1 million considered as starting point in the Impact Assessment in 2013, for two reasons: -First, the EURES Portal was migrated to a new technical system in 2014. This required the migration of all jobseeker and employer accounts, which were deactivated. The EURES portal users had to reactivate their account at the first login; however, only 15% of the accounts were reactivated by March 2015. The migration helped to clean up numerous inactive accounts. -Second, in 2014, only 17% of the registered jobseekers had a published CV. Since then, the quality of the portal content has been further prioritized rather than the raw figures: -Every month around 10 800 new jobseekers register in the portal, however EURES regularly removes users from the portal due to GDPR considerations and, recently, also to discard profiles from third-country nationals who cannot access the EU labour market. For instance, 604 622 accounts were deleted in 2020. This is a stricter approach than in 2013, when the Impact Assessment was drafted, leading to 1 million CVs from active jobseekers at the end of 2020 compared to the 1.1 million users (with or without a CV) considered as starting point in the Impact Assessment.

-Every day, EURES Members and Partners transfer new CVs from their national databases to the portal via the single coordinated channel. However, they also use the channel to remove their CVs, for instance when the jobseekers found a job or at the request of the jobseeker. This regular clean-up leads to fewer numbers in stocks of CVs, but of higher relevance. Table 8: CVs stocks (inserted minus removed) on the EURES portal in the period 2017-2020. The single coordinated channel was launched in 2018. In 2020, 604 622 portal accounts were deleted. Source: EURES harmonised reporting (PMS). Stocks (inserted minus removed) 2017 2018 2019 2020 CVs from the self-service 287 850 317 562 413 036 123 520 CVs from the single coordinated channel N/A 321 259 080 964 727 Total annual stock of CVs on the EURES portal 287 850 317 883 672 116 1 088 247 In any case, the number of CVs in the EURES portal reflects the demand of jobs following the business cycle. The evaluation period was marked by “a continued expansion of the EU’s economy, all-time records for high employment and low unemployment” as confirmed by the analysis in the Employment and Social Developments in Europe (ESDE) in 2019 and 2020, reducing the number of jobseekers and consequently the number of CVs published. The COVID-19 disruption is reverting this tendency, with an increase in the number of CVs published and a reduction of the vacancies, as shown in the following table. Table 9: Inflows (new insertions) in the EURES portal since the launch of the single coordinated channel (June 2018- December 2020). Source: EURES harmonised reporting (PMS) Inflows (insertions) 2018* 2019 2020 CVs 37 285 325 434 835 033 Vacancies 3 640 875 19 702 701 14 035 546 Private hiring platforms can be used as a benchmark of the success of EURES publishing vacancies. Job postings in these platforms come from the employers who registered for premium paid features, but also aggregated from company pages, associations, and listings from across the web, including EURES. In the period 2015-2020, the Commission received several complaints from employers and EURES members who published their vacancies in EURES via their national PES and who discovered that months after they had completed the recruitment procedure their vacancies were still published in some of these platforms without permission. One Member State complained that a private online provider had copied all job vacancies from this country and made them available on the private platform. This confirms that EURES reached the objective of transparency of job vacancies and, often as a bandwagon effect, other online providers use this information for their own business without ensuring the quality and timelineness of the information. While for EURES any further dissemination of job vacancies is in principle welcome, this must be done respecting employers, who do not appreciate being flooded with applications to outdated job vacancies, and jobseekers, who equally deserve respect in their job search. Private hiring platforms can apply to become EURES Members if they respect the minimum common criteria that guarantee minimum standards of service. The stakeholders tend to agree that the EURES portal increases the quantity of available employment opportunities, but in a mixed picture: a slight majority (61%) of employers who responded to the survey agreed, compared to only 48% of the jobseekers. This finding is confirmed in the specific case study for employers, who consider as essential the support of EURES advisers and report that the EURES portal enhances their access to more candidates’ profiles, while they still find problems with the usability of the portal. Whether the enhanced access to job vacancies and CVs results in intra-EU placements depends on the extent to which the information is complete, of good quality and up-to-date. In spite of the efforts undertaken to keep the portal up-to-date, this is not always the case according to stakeholders. In particular, job vacancies and CVs occasionally happen to be out-dated, incomplete or sometimes provided only in the national language, which is partially linked to the portal (e.g. lack of mandatory fields), but also caused by incomplete information provided by jobseekers and employers. The critical remarks of stakeholders confirm that further work is required on the portal. Since the full automated matching functionality will not be available until August 2021, it is not possible to assess its effectiveness. However, the experience from Member States shows that the benefits outweigh the costs “in terms of more regular employment and in terms of more sustainable placements that exhibit longer tenures”. The amount of information used to classify and match CVs and job vacancies rises constantly, taking into account preferences, education, qualifications, competencies, experience, and skills, including soft skills. Consequently, matching demands substantial effort from advisors. While the number of vacancies and CVs can spike following both periods of crisis and growth, the number of advisors is unlikely to increase along demand. Therefore, any solution that reduces the manual matching effort increases the efficiency of EURES advisors, a limited resource, who can devote more time to personal counselling. This is also the viewpoint of European Network of Public Employment Services, and particularly of several national PES that are using the same tool as the EURES portal for their national automated matching. The effectiveness of the EURES portal depends also on its visibility among target groups. The consultation results suggest that the portal is one of the most visible EURES instruments: when asked to indicate their interaction with EURES, 65% of the respondents to the public consultation confirmed that they have visited the portal to get information and 61% reported to be registered on the portal. These were the top two options selected among all EURES interactions. The EURES portal provides information that partially overlaps with Europass and Your Europe portal, as described in section 5.4.1. External coherence. Given the importance of clear visibility for EURES, this partial overlap could hinder EURES effectiveness. 5.2.3.Effectiveness of EURES mobility schemes and cross-border partnerships The EURES cross-border partnerships and mobility schemes complement the implementation of EURES general services defined by the Regulation and contribute to EURES specific objectives by supporting selected target groups, addressing their specific needs and providing financial assistance. These target groups (e.g. young jobseekers, cross-border employers) are a subset of the EURES target groups. Stakeholders consulted (jobseekers, employers and EURES staff) for the case studies often mentioned the financial support available through the mobility schemes as an important service complementing the provision of services by EURES advisers. This is confirmed in both the public consultation and the jobseekers survey, where the jobseekers beneficiary of mobility schemes or cross-border partnerships expressed their satisfaction with the services received. Also, all 18 national coordinators survey respondents who have indicated that they take part in mobility schemes agreed that these schemes support the defined target groups in alignment with EURES. Cross-border partnerships mainly contribute to better awareness of labour mobility potential among frontier workers and employers in cross-border regions. Performance measurement data shows that all EURES mobility schemes have resulted in intra-EU placements and contacts with employers and jobseekers, thus contributing to EURES specific objectives. A total of 10 300 placements were achieved in the period 2018-2019, around 6% of the EURES total. The mobility schemes report their performance using a data collection template different from other EURES services. This is due to the reporting requirements from the EaSI programme (providing the funding) and from EURES (defining the services). These separate reporting systems limit the consolidation of results achieved by the mobility schemes and other EURES actions. The 2018 Report on Free Movement of Workers by the European Court of Auditors found it difficult to obtain aggregate outputs and results from the cross-border partnerships and requested improvements of the monitoring. Therefore, since 2019 cross-border partnerships use a reporting template that closely follows the Performance Measurement System of EURES. This facilitates comparability of indicators with other EURES actions.

5.2.4.Effectiveness of EURES internal support and organisational set-up The Regulation specifies that the European Coordination Office (ECO) has to provide horizontal internal support to the EURES network. The level of satisfaction of national coordinators with the support provided by ECO is high, suggesting that internal support helps the functioning of the network, even though the respondents also saw the need for further activities to be undertaken by ECO. Specific examples mentioned (enhanced communication and promotion activities, alignment of programming and performance measurement cycles, increased flexibility of training programme) imply that there is scope for improving certain support areas. Evidence from the desk research and interviews with EURES advisers and national coordinators show that information exchange on national labour market shortages and surpluses happens at multiple levels across the network: -EU level, through the annual reports on intra-EU labour mobility and information on labour market conditions provided on the EURES portal. -Strategic national level, through the integration of labour market trends in the planning of activities. The COVID-19 crisis showed also the power of the network collecting information on challenges in cross-border regions. -Operational level, through direct contact and exchange of information between EURES advisers. In the national coordinators survey, 21 of the 25 who replied to this question agreed that the information exchange contributes to a better labour market integration. The case study on Admission system/Extension of the network shows, however, that the information exchange structures are not sufficiently developed yet for the new Members. Self-reporting by various cooperation projects implemented between EURES countries confirms that EURES Members and Partners coordinate their actions. This assessment was also confirmed by 25 out of the 26 respondents to the national coordinators survey who stated that they coordinate their actions. Cooperation activities reported in 2018 and 2019 include cross-border partnerships, participation in mobility schemes, recruitment activities (job fairs, European Job Days), study visits, workshops and information events. All but three countries reported carrying out multilateral recruitment projects in 2018 and 2019. National coordinators, Members, and Partners agree that the cooperation and information exchange within the network brings better knowledge of labour market dynamics and conditions in other countries, contributing to more targeted and thus, effective, provision of services. The EURES Regulation introduced important changes in the organisational set-up of the network, such as setting up of admission systems for new Members and Partners. The case study on Admission system/Extension of the network shows that the current organisational set-up is considered appropriate for addressing labour market needs. This is confirmed also by national coordinators (69% or 18 out of 26 national coordinators survey respondents). In particular, broadening the network is perceived as relevant, since it strengthens knowledge exchange about users’ needs and labour market developments and thus increases the effectiveness of the network. While the organisational set-up is considered adequate and all EURES countries have established or started preparing an admission system, only half of them have admitted new Members and Partners. Particularly, non-EU EURES countries have not yet started the work on admission because the EURES Regulation was taken over in late 2019 by the EEA Joint Committee and the implementation at national level is under way. In assessing the positive effects of admitting new Members and Partners it should be noted that, the effects of the broadening of the network take time to materialise and that not all Members and Partners can contribute equally to the network. The benefits of admitting Members and Partners depends on the national context, as highlighted in the validation workshop. In any case, the Public Employment Services (PES) consider strategic this kind of partnerships. As regards the specific situation in cross-border regions, stakeholders mention some organisational aspects that limit the ability to provide support by cross-border partnerships. These are mainly linked to the increase in the reporting workload, and the challenge of coordinating a partnership of diverse organisations. 5.2.5.Visibility Increasing the visibility and awareness of EURES is not defined as a specific objective by the Regulation. However, knowing about EURES is a precondition likely to influence the effectiveness of all EURES actions and, thus, the achievement of the EURES objectives. When analysing the visibility of EURES, it should be considered that EURES countries often have limited resources in this regard, as pointed out in the validation workshop. Performance measurement indicators increasingly show that labour market participants are aware of EURES initiatives (e.g. social media followers of the EURES EU account increased by 9% between 2018 and 2019, and 161% for national accounts. The EURES EU Facebook account is among the top four in the Commission accounts). However, a significant proportion (40% to 50%) of survey respondents across stakeholder groups (National coordinators, Members and Partners, public consultation) assessed EURES as not sufficiently visible. Also, only 30% of the public consultation respondents agreed that EURES is well known among jobseekers and employers. In addition, a small share of jobseekers and employers follow EURES social media accounts. For example, only one in four jobseekers who responded to the survey follows EURES on social media. This limited outreach might be reducing the impact of EURES communication activities. This is in line with the findings of the 2018 Report on Free Movement of Workers by the European Court of Auditors, which indicates that there are opportunities to improve awareness of the EU channels used to provide information to EU workers about their rights. Performance measurement indicators and examples of communication activities show that both EURES countries and the European Coordination Office have been enhancing their promotion and communication activities. Nevertheless, national coordinators, Members and Partners agree that further efforts are needed. National coordinators mentioned in interviews several constraints that need to be overcome: limited funding; lack of cooperation with other organisations to reach wider audiences; and absence of a common promotion approach at local, regional, national and European level. The on-going mainstreaming of EURES into the regular PES service offer affects as well the EURES visibility. The case study focusing on apprenticeships and internships observed that some young people knew EURES mobility schemes, but were not aware of the existence of the EURES network, nor that these projects were part of it. This raises questions about the communication of the EURES brand, and hints that paradoxically the further integration and mainstreaming of EURES services into the PES negatively affects the visibility of EURES while at the same time it increases the quality of EURES services. The importance of cooperation with other organisations (social partners and enterprises) was also highlighted in comments by EURES Members and Partners: 61% of the respondents answered that they coordinate awareness raising activities with other national Members and Partners. However, this also means that the potential of cooperation in this regard is not exploited by 39% of the Members and Partners who responded to the survey. Feedback from jobseekers and employers suggests that internet search engines and public employment offices are the main points that inform them about EURES for the first time. This is in line with the EURES operational objective from the Impact Assessment to further mainstream EURES services within Public Employment Services (PES). Indeed, feedback from customers from interviews in the case studies confirmed the importance of the PES as a reference point connecting EURES with clients. A specific challenge identified in the case study focusing on employers is the fact that in some countries, due to the organisational structure of PES, public employment offices at regional level are distant from the work of EURES and might not be able to fully understand and communicate its services.

5.2.6.Sustainability and factors impacting effectiveness EURES provides a wide range of services implemented in multiple ways. The evaluation does not determine a single factor for success but suggests that keeping a wide portfolio to cater for the various needs seems the most appropriate approach. Stakeholders’ feedback does not provide evidence to clearly identifying differences in effectiveness between the EURES actions. While national coordinators rate the provision of information and guidance and support in matching as most effective (average grade of 2.35 on a scale of 1 = most effective and 7 = least effective), the opinion of customers differs, reflecting their level of satisfaction. Among jobseekers, post-recruitment assistance receives the highest share of satisfaction (91% of 44 survey respondents) compared to 62% of 104 satisfied with work / apprenticeship / traineeship offers. Cross-border information is accorded the highest level of satisfaction among employers. In addition, according to jobseekers, individual support through EURES advisers is assessed as more effective than services via the portal, while the provision of information and guidance is the most effective service in a cross-border context. Cross-border partnership stakeholders shared the perception that the most needed services, namely, the ones related to the provision of information and guidance, are also the most effective in a cross-border context. Regarding the mode of implementation, each specific EURES action appears to have its own advantages and disadvantages, which can influence its effectiveness in given situations: -Recruitment and information events have broader outreach than individual counselling, but can provide only generic information. -Online events are linked to lower costs and are more accessible, but onsite events facilitate physical contact perceived as vital in the recruitment process. The interviews with employers provided insight on how the effectiveness of the type of support is linked to the characteristics of clients. For example, participation in a recruitment event is more effective, compared to individual support, when employers have a higher number of vacancies to fill. In addition, it was reported that searching for profiles with more general skills (e.g. bus drivers) is easier on the portal, while identifying profiles with specific expertise is more effective through individual support by EURES advisers. With regard to jobseekers, the analysis did not identify significant differences in their assessment of EURES services depending on individual characteristics. The sustainability of EURES actions refers to long-term duration of the employment relationship. It is achieved by ensuring fair working conditions and a recruitment outcome that is satisfactory to both employers and jobseekers. Employers consulted in interviews and workshops agree that EURES actions are sustainable in the long-term, especially due to the careful pre-selection and consideration of individual preferences in the recruitment process. The survey for national coordinators also confirms (84% agreement) that EURES actions are sustainable in the long-term. The importance of individual contact and advice for the sustainability of the results achieved suggests that support provided through EURES advisers might lead to more sustainable results, compared to services provided via the portal. In addition, support tailored to individual needs in one-to-one counselling might be more sustainable than support of more general nature provided in events. A stronger focus on post-recruitment assistance and follow up is perceived by national coordinators consulted in interviews as a way to increase the overall sustainability of EURES results. Based on the feedback from Members, Partners and national coordinators, a number of external and internal factors influence the end results of EURES. Factors hindering the effectiveness of EURES actions include developments of similar patterns of labour shortages across Europe, preferences of employers to recruit from third countries, differences in EURES structures, limited time and capacity of staff, and low visibility of EURES. Facilitating factors include exchange of expertise across the network, good understanding of target groups’ needs and the possibility to provide tailor-made support free of charge. 5.3.Efficiency 5.3.1.Cost-effectiveness Based on available data, an overall increase in cost-effectiveness can be observed between 2016 and 2019 along three analysed outcomes: placements achieved with the support of EURES, individual contacts with jobseekers and employers, and number of job vacancies transferred by the national coordinators to the portal. The table summarises the results of the cost-effectiveness analysis: EURES outcome indicator 2016 2019 Net saving Cost per placement achieved 473.53 288.10 185.42 Cost per individual contact 13.60 11.88 1.71 Cost per job vacancy transferred to the portal 2.74 1.24 1.50 The cost decreased 39% for placements, 13% for contacts and halved for vacancies. The fact that EURES is now more cost-effective than in the past suggests that the results of its activities are increasingly efficient in relation to the costs. While the overall trend of the evidence is clear, the figures should be treated as indicative only. The cross-time design (rather than comparing between alternative policies), comparability issues (between the different outcomes and across countries), and missing data (e.g. Belgium, Germany, and Liechtenstein are excluded from the calculations) all result in strong but necessary methodological assumptions, suggesting caution in interpreting the data. The efficiency of the EURES portal could be enhanced by improving the portal’s tools and by upgrading its matching function. The analysis of available data and feedback on the funding and outreach of the portal confirm that improvements are needed in this domain