COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Reforming EURES to meet the goals of Europe 2020
Date: 2012-04-18
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU programme, EURES, European Social Fund, innovation, job application, job mobility, labour mobility, social change

EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Strasbourg, 18.4.2012  
SWD(2012) 100 final 

COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT 

Reforming EURES to meet the goals of Europe 2020  

Accompanying the document 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL 
COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS 

Towards a job-rich recovery 

{COM(2012) 173 final} 
{SWD(2012) 90 final} 
{SWD(2012) 92 final} 
{SWD(2012) 93 final} 
{SWD(2012) 95 final} 
{SWD(2012) 96 final} 
{SWD(2012) 97 final} 
{SWD(2012) 98 final} 
{SWD(2012) 99 final} 

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   EN 

 
 
 
 
  
 
COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT 

Reforming EURES to meet the goals of Europe 2020  

Accompanying the document 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL 
COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS 

Towards a job-rich recovery 

TABLE OF CONTENTS 

1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

5. 

Introduction .................................................................................................................. 3 

EURES –the tool for intra EU recruitment and placement .......................................... 3 

Timing and elements of the EURES reform ................................................................ 6 

Outline of the Commission Decision on EURES ........................................................ 8 

The way forward ........................................................................................................ 13 

Disclaimer:  This  document  is  a  European  Commission  staff  working  document  for 
information  purposes.  It  does  not  represent  an  official  position  of  the  Commission  on  this 
issue, nor does it anticipate such a position. 

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1. 

INTRODUCTION  

Intra  EU  labour  mobility  can  simultaneously  increase  economic  activity  and  employment 
levels1  by  helping  overcome  mismatches  and  imbalances  on  the  labour  market  and  making 
them  function  dynamically  and  more  efficiently.  Geographic  mobility  is  also  a  potential 
source of economic growth2 that helps improve the (re)allocation of resources by acting as an 
adjustment mechanism for distorted labour markets whilst also enabling economies to better 
cope with sudden shocks.  

Limited geographic mobility has been identified in the 2012 Annual Growth Survey as one of 
the  reasons  for  the  structural  mismatch  between  the  supply  and  demand  for  labour  and  a 
hindrance for recovery and long-term growth. The labour matching process has deteriorated 
since  2009  with  the  number  of  unfilled  vacancies  on  the  increase  since  mid-2009  and 
unemployment at record levels3. Only 2.8% of the EU working age citizens (15-64) live in a 
Member  State  different  from  the  one  of  their  nationality.  This  figure  is  insufficient4  when 
considered  against  a  free  movement  area  of  25  Member  States  and  the  pressing  need  to 
develop a dynamic and well-functioning European labour market.  

The  present  economic  situation  calls  for  bold  action  at  European  and  national  level  to 
stimulate intra-EU mobility in order to remedy labour shortages and bottlenecks vacancies in 
high growth areas and persistently high unemployment in other regions. The EU needs more 
labour mobility nationally and across borders. A strengthened EURES will facilitate mobility 
and direct jobseekers and job changers to where the jobs are, as well as providing an easier 
and real-time access to these jobs and presenting employers, notably SMEs, with a living pool 
of candidates where they can find the skills they need to develop and grow their businesses. 

2. 

EURES –THE TOOL FOR INTRA EU RECRUITMENT AND PLACEMENT  

Set up in 1993, EURES is the European network for worker mobility involving the European 
Commission and the public employment services (PES) of the EEA Member States (the EU 
countries  plus  Norway,  Iceland  and  Liechtenstein)  and  social  partners'  organisations.  The 
EURES network is responsible for exchanging information and enabling cooperation among 
its stakeholders in order to allow for the freedom of movement of workers across the EU. The 
main legal basis of EURES is provided for in Chapter II of Regulation (EU) 492/2011 (recent 
codification of Council Regulation 1612/68).  

1 

2 

3 
4 

: 

Mobility  of  workers  has  proven  to  contribute  to  both,  employment  and  economic  growth,  as  e.g. 
Employment in Europe 2008 and Employment and Social Developments in Europe 2011. 
Studies  discussing  the  relationship  between  geographical  mobility  and  economic  and  employment 
indicators 
mobility 
http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/publications/htmlfiles/ef0702.htm  and  IZA,Geographical  mobility  in 
the 
benefits 
http://www.iza.org/en/webcontent/publications/reports/report_pdfs/iza_report_19.pdf 
See Beveridge curve for the EU 2000Q1-2011Q3 in European Economic Forecast, Autumn 2011 
See Employment and Social Developments in Europe report 2011 

Eurofound, 

optimising 

Economic 

economic 

distance 

benefits 

social 

long 

and 

EU 

its 

of 

– 

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The  EURES  objectives  were  defined  in  1968  in  the  Regulation  (EEC)  No  1612/68  which 
stipulated that: 

"the central employment services of the Member States shall cooperate closely with each 
other and with the Commission with a view to acting jointly as regards the clearing of 
vacancies and applications for employment within the Union and the resultant placing of 
workers in employment"5. 

EURES  is  in  effect  European  network  between  the  European  Commission  and  the  Public 
Employment  Services  of  the  EEA  Member  States  (the  EU  Member  States  plus  Norway, 
Iceland and Lichtenstein) and partner organisations. Switzerland also takes part in EURES.  

To  date  the  services  offered  by  EURES  consist  of  information,  advice  and  assistance  for 
placement  and  recruitment.  This  may  include  databases  on  job  vacancies,  job  search,  living 
and working conditions as well as personalised services throughout the Union. Personalised 
services are provided in particular by EURES advisers, who have received specialised training 
and  who  deliver  information  and  advice  about  all  issues  related  to  the  free  movement  of 
workers  to  job  seekers,  job  changers  and  employers.  These  services  are  provided  free  of 
charge to all persons benefiting from the freedom of movement in accordance with European 
Union law.6  

Transforming EURES into an employment instrument with a special focus on placement7 and 
paying  special  attention  to  the  needs  of  employers  is  fully  consistent  with  its  legal  base  - 
Regulation (EEC) No 1612/68 now codified by Regulation EU No 492/2011. The post-crisis 
situation  affecting  EU  labour  markets  is  characterised  by  a  growing  need  for  intra-EU-
mobility  and  calls  for  a  firmer  contribution  of  all  tools  and  instruments  to  improve  labour 
market  performance  in  line  with  the  objectives  of  the  Europe  2020  Strategy.  The  external 
evaluation of EURES completed in 2010 brought to light a need to reform the EURES service 
delivery8. With all these developments in mind, the Commission is proposing a major reform 
of EURES consisting of several elements. 

EURES  will  be  reformed  in  order  to  bring  it  up  to  speed  with  the  challenges  posed  by  the 
post-crisis  labour  market  scenario.  In  this  respect,  it  will  first  and  foremost  be  transformed 
into an instrument effectively contributing to the Europe 2020 goals. It will thus be expanded 
to  support  both  specific  groups  of  workers  with  a  high  propensity  for  mobility,  as  well  as 
employers experiencing recruitment difficulties on their domestic turf.  

5 

6 

7 

8 

The development  of EURES  and  its predecessor  CEDOC  from  1968  and onwards  is described  in  the 
book EURES: the story so far. Matching jobs and skills in Europe for 15 years, Luxembourg 2009.  
The  right  of  freedom  of  movement  for  workers  can  be  exercised  by  EU  nationals  and  their  family 
members, EEA nationals and their family members, in accordance with Art 45 TFEU, and developed 
through  secondary  law  (Regulation  (EU)  nº  492/2011  and  Directive  2004/38,  as  well  as  Directive 
2005/36, and by case-law of the Court of Justice of the EU). Swiss nationals and their family members 
can  benefit  of  the  free  movement  of  workers  in  accordance  with  the  Agreement  of  21  June  1999 
between the Swiss confederation and the EU on the free movement of persons.  
Within  the  context  of  EURES,  placement  can  be  understood  as  the  provision  of  services  by  an 
intermediary between the supply and demand on the labour market with the objective of a recruitment 
taking place., where recruitment is the filling of a job vacancy.  
Ex-post  evaluation  of  the  EURES  programme  covering  the  period  2006-2008,  European  Policy 
Evaluation Consortium (EPEC), 2010  

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EURES  should  combine  a  supply  and  demand  driven  approach  by  keeping  its  original 
function  as  transparency  tool,  serving  both  the  right  to  free  movement  of  workers  and  the 
needs  of  employers  experiencing  recruitment  difficulties.  At  the  same  time  the  delivery 
capacity of EURES and its result-orientation need to be strengthened. Finally, EURES shall 
contribute  to  increasing  the  intra-European  job  mobility  rate  by  providing  easier  and  actual 
access  to  more  employment  opportunities  and  support  to  employers  in  recruiting  the  talents 
and skills they are looking for. 

The  EURES  on-line  portal  gathers  job  vacancies  processed  by  national  Public  Employment 
Services covering an estimated 30- 40% of the overall European job vacancy market. EURES 
allows access to more than 1 million vacancies and on average 750 000 CVs are live in the 
system at any one time in a given month. The number of monthly visits is circa 3, 6 million 
thus  making  it  the  most  frequently  visited  site  of  any  initiative  run  by  the  European 
Commission.  

EURES  also  caters  for  the  delivery  of  personal  client  services  in  the  fields  of  information, 
advice and placements. EURES member organisations in the EEA countries and more than 20 
EURES cross-border partnerships are offering these services through a network of more than 
850  EURES  advisers;  altogether  they  have  more  than  150  000  contacts  per  month  to 
jobseekers and employers 

Unfortunately  though,  skills  shortages  and  bottleneck  vacancies  in  high  growth  areas  still 
coexist  with  persistent  unemployment,  which  indicates  that  spatial  mismatches  remain  and 
prevent vacancies from being made available to workers with the right skills This points to a, 
an  insufficient  linkage  of  EURES  with  the  wider  employment  aims  and  objectives  of  the 
Europe 2020 strategy.  

The June 2010 Special Eurobarometer survey on "Geographical and labour market mobility" 
found  that  whilst  12%  of  Europeans  have  heard  of  EURES  only  2%  have  actually  used  it. 
This is rather low when considering that 34% of Europeans think that their chances of finding 
a  job  abroad  are  better  than  in  their  own  countries  while  close  to  one  Europeans  in  five 
envisages working abroad in the future. Moreover, with only 25 000 employers registered and 
an estimated 150 000 job placements/recruitments per year9 , EURES has not yet realised its 
full potential. Against this backdrop, the EURES reform seeks to  take  full  advantage of the 
untapped  employment  opportunities  available  and  by  better  reaching  out  and  serving  the 
employer  community.  This  shall  be  done  by  re-orienting  the  EURES  portal  and  EURES 
national  program  activities  towards  labour  demand  needs  and  in  particular  under-serviced 
occupations.  This  is  an  essential  next  step  in  facilitating  recruitment  across  borders  and 
helping meet the employment goals of Europe 2020.  

The EURES reform will also mirror major changes taking place both in labour markets (new 
patterns of mobility and career paths, faster, frequent and more complex transitions between 
jobs,  occupations,  sectors  and  employment  status)  as  well  as  in  the  field  of  employment 
service  provision  (new  partnerships  for  better  understanding  labour  demand  and  delivery  of 
integrated  tailor  made  services  enhancing  security  of  transitions).  As  a  result,  the  growing 
number  of  actors  involved  in  fighting  unemployment  (public,  private,  third  sector, 

9 

The extrapolation of results of the external EURES evaluation study and the analysis of the reports of 
the national EURES members suggests that around 150000 persons find a job or get a job offer through 
EURES. 

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municipalities) will be encouraged to cooperate and interact so as to 

a) broaden the EURES coverage of vacancy markets10,  

b) increase the EURES flexibility to adapt and adjust its services  

c) increase its effectiveness and efficiency for responding to all potential clients groups.  

The overarching goal of the reform should be the creation of a more integrated European jobs 
market.  

3. 

TIMING AND ELEMENTS OF THE EURES REFORM 

On  6  October  2011  the  Commission  presented  a  legislative  package  of  EU  regional, 
employment  and  social  policy  for  2014-2020.  Two  proposals  are  particularly  relevant  for 
EURES,  one  concerns  its  financing,  the  other  its  service  delivery.  It  is  proposed  that  from 
2014  onwards  the  horizontal  EURES  activities  would  be  covered  under  the  EU  Programme 
for  Social  Change  and  Innovation  (PSCI)11  and  that  the  national  and  cross-border  EURES 
activities implemented by its members and partners should be funded by the European Social 
Fund (ESF)12, unless national authorities decide to use their own budgets.  

3.1. 

PSCI - Programme for Social Change and Innovation 

The first element of the reform relates to the so-called 'horizontal activities' to be included in 
the  future  PSCI  Programme:  i.e.  support  activities  initiated  and  partly  carried  out  by  the 
Commission  such  as  training  of  EURES  advisers,  new  and  specific  mutual  learning  (e.g. 
identification,  exchange  and  transposition  of  EURES  good  practices,  peer  reviews  among 
EURES  actors…)  to  support  all  the  actors  of  the  EURES  network13  in  boosting  EURES 
capacity building while guaranteeing quality of EURES services in line with its recruitment 
logic, information and communication  activities  at  EU level  and the further development of 
the EURES Job Mobility Portal.  

The operational objective for the EURES Job Mobility Portal will be to deliver modern user-
friendly filtering, flagging and matching functionalities while making it the main entry point 
for  any  European  jobseeker  or  employer  considering  working  abroad  or  recruiting  from 
another  European  country.  The  EURES  portal  and  related  IT  systems  will  be  further 
developed  in  order  to  fully  support  the  services  to  be  provided  by  the  reformed  EURES 
network  via  numerous  channels  including  self-service  tools,  virtual  jobs  fairs  and  social 
media.  

A  new  technical  platform,  using  the  ESCO  classification14  as  a  basis,  will  allow  full 
interoperability15 (semantic and syntactic) between EURES members and partners and other 

10 

11 
12 
13 

14 

e.g.  Service  Level  Agreements  between  Public  Employment  Services,  Private  Employment  Services 
and employers' organisations… 
COM(2011) 609 final 
COM(2011) 607 final 
Article 6.3b) of the Commission proposal for a Regulation on a European Union Programme for Social 
Change and Innovation  
European Skills, Competences and Occupations classification  

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stakeholders  for  the  exchange  of  all  relevant  information  including  job  vacancies,  CVs  and 
other  labour  market  related  information,  thus  overcoming  language  barriers.  The  EURES 
portal will thus provide high quality services for skills-based matching, guidance, information 
and  advice  Any  processing  of  personal  data  will  comply  with  relevant  legislation  such  as 
Directive 95/46/EC and Regulation (EC) N° 45/2001.  

The  PSCI  also  includes  a  proposal  for  expanding  EURES  to  support  targeted  mobility 
schemes  at  EU  level.  Targeted  mobility  schemes  combine  a  demand  and  supply  driven 
approach  by  focusing  either  on  a)  countries  with  recruitment  difficulties  or  b)  occupations 
under particular strain or c) specific groups of workers facing difficulties entering the labour 
market such as young people.  

The  implementing  organisations  delivering  services  to jobseekers  and  employers  will  be 
selected  in  open  call  for  proposals  to  which  all  employment  services  and  labour  market 
institutions with experience in offering employment services and developing partnerships for 
customer oriented service delivery across Europe will be able to apply. The Commission itself 
will not act as an employment service but shall ensure a strong coordination of these targeted 
mobility schemes and full respect for applicable labour law and standards. The Commission 
has opted for a 'broad' definition of the targeted mobility schemes to make these adaptable and 
flexible in the face of new emerging employment market demands. Targeted labour mobility 
schemes  could  be  designed  for  certain  sectors,  occupations,  countries  or  group  of  countries 
wherever a  clear  economic  need  is  identified  and  Europe-wide  recruitment  could  provide 
added value, for example in the area of bottleneck vacancies and niche vacancies for which 
recruitment difficulties have been identified.  

The  type  of  tailor  made  and  client  oriented  support  measures  offered  under  the  targeted 
mobility  schemes  will  be  defined  in  the  corresponding  calls  for  proposals;  these  will  be 
based on  the  provisions  of  article  11.2  of  PSCI  and  should  include  services  in  the  areas  of 
information,  advice,  job  search,  matching,  post-placements  assistance  as  well  as  limited 
financial  support  for  the  jobseekers  and  the  employers.  A  preparatory  action  for  these 
schemes - named Your First EURES Job16 - is currently being carried out. The lessons learned 
from the implementation of Your First EURES Job will be taken into account when designing 
the call for proposals for the targeted mobility schemes. 

3.2. 

ESF – the European Social Fund 

The second element of the reform covers the national and cross-border EURES activities that 
traditionally  formed  the  bulk  of  all  EURES  activities  and  which  should  be  further 
strengthened in the future. From 2014 onwards these EURES activities could be funded under 
the European Social Fund (ESF) under shared management. This will considerably increase 
the ownership of Member States in relation to EURES activities while providing a significant 
administrative simplification and allowing for mainstreaming of EURES into the service offer 
of the Public Employment Services and EURES partners.  

Member States may include their EURES activities in relevant priorities of their Operational 
Programmes.  This  choice  will  enable  access  to  bigger  funding  possibilities  and  boost 

15 

16 

Interoperability  in  the  EURES  context  refers  to  the  ability  of  systems  or  components  to  exchange 
information  and  use  the  information  that  has  been  exchanged.  Interoperability  counteracts  the 
segmentation of labour markets which are due to the inability of exchanging information.  
http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=631&langId=en&callId=328&furtherCalls=yes 

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ownership  by  allowing  Member  States  to  tailor  their  EURES  service  offer  to  the  specific 
needs of their own labour markets. Moreover, it will allow them to integrate EURES activities 
with other activities promoting a more effective matching between labour demand and supply, 
as  part  of  the  national  efforts  towards  modernising  labour  market  institutions  and  public 
administration.  Both  types  of  EURES  services  (universal  actions  in  the  sense  of  Regulation 
No 492/2011 and complementary actions based on specific economic needs) will be eligible 
for  support.  Regulation  No  492/2011  defines  EURES  cross-border  partnerships17  as 
complementary services that Member States can set up, if their services are needed.  

Member States will decide themselves how to include the different types of EURES services 
in the ESF Operational Programmes and to which extent  they  will make use of the funding 
from ESF. The national or regional ESF Managing Authorities will be required to be closely 
involved in the future governance of EURES. 

In  its  proposal  for  the  ESF  Regulation  the  Commission  has  defined  transnational  labour 
mobility  as  one  of  its  top  investment  priorities.  Further  guidance  on  Member  States 
programming  will  be  provided  in  the  Common  Strategic  Framework  (CSF)  2014-2020;  the 
CSF translates the objectives and targets of smart, sustainable and inclusive growth into key 
actions  for  the  EU  structural  funds,  and  in  particular  for  the  ESF  and  the  ERDF.  The 
Commissions proposal for the CSF indicates that transnational labour mobility activities are 
EURES  activities  in  the  areas  of  matching,  recruitment  and  placement,  together  with  the 
related information, advice and guidance services at national and cross-border level.  

4. 

OUTLINE OF THE COMMISSION DECISION ON EURES  

The  third  element  of  the  reform  of  EURES  is  the  Commission  Decision  implementing 
Regulation  (EU)  No  492/2011  that  should  enter  into  force  on  1  January  2014.  The  main 
components of the new decision are described in the following sections.  

4.1. 

The EURES network 

As the new decision entails fundamental changes to the structure and governance of EURES 
the text makes it clear that the network is re-established and that the Decision 2003/8/EC is 
repealed. 

4.2. 

Objectives 

From  a  legal  point  of  view,  the  objective  of  EURES  is  to  ensure  a  co-ordinated 
implementation of the provisions of Chapter II of Regulation (EU) No 492/2011 on freedom 
of movement for workers within the Union.  

This means in practice that EURES should ensure that the obligations put on Member states 
by  the  Regulation,  namely  to  undertake  a  "Clearance  of  vacancies  and  applications  for 
employment"  as  well as the exchange and provision of labour market related information is 
fulfilled in an efficient and effective manner, fully respecting applicable labour standards and 
legal requirements (fair mobility).  

17 

Art  15.1.B.  "If  necessary,  the  services  territorially  responsible  for  border  regions  shall  also  set  up 
cooperation and service structures" 

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The  decision  will  translate  these  obligations  into  operational  terms  by  defining  the 
composition of the network, the roles and responsibilities of the various actors, the services to 
provide  and  the  governance  structure.  It  is  not  possible  to  define  in  detail  the  catalogue  of 
services, operational objectives and quality standards etc. in a document like the Commission 
Decision  These  definitions  will  therefore  be  reflected  in  a  new  EURES  Charter  that  will 
replace both the current EURES Charter and the three-yearly EURES guidelines.  

4.3. 

Composition of the network 

The  current  EURES  network  consists  of  Members  and  Partners.  Members  are  the 
Commission and what the Regulation refers to as "specialist services" that the Member States 
must  appoint.  The  term  "specialist  services"  has  in  practice  been  interpreted  as  the  Public 
Employment  Services  at  national  level.  EURES  Partners  can,  among  other  things  be 
employment services at regional and cross-border level and social partners organisations. This 
category has in particular encompassed the EURES cross-border partnerships.  

The new Decision will make important changes in this respect and the reformed EURES will 
comprise four categories of actors: 

• 

• 

• 

• 

The European Commission 

The EURES members. Each Member State should still designate a EURES member, 
who  would  be  the  "specialist  services",  referred  to  in  the  Regulation,  but  the  roles 
and  responsibilities  of  the  EURES  members  will  be  different  from  today.  The 
EURES  member  should  assume  the  role  of  a  National  Co-ordination  Office  and 
should not as such carry out any of the EURES services. The same organisation that 
has  been  appointed  as  the  EURES  member  can,  however  also  be  a  provider  of 
EURES  services,  but  will  in  that  respect  be  considered  a  EURES  partner. 
Effectively, a EURES member can also be a EURES partner if desired.  

The EURES Partners are the actual providers of EURES services to jobseekers and 
employers. In order to qualify as a EURES partner they must undertake to fulfil the 
roles  and  responsibilities  laid  down  in  the  Decision,  in  particular  to  provide  the 
obligatory  Universal  services  that  are  further  explained  below.  As  the  provision  of 
these  services  is  an  obligation  for  the  Member  States  there  must  at  least  be  one 
EURES Partner in each country. 

The Associated EURES partners. Organisations that do not provide all the obligatory 
Universal services can nevertheless participate in the EURES network as Associated 
EURES  partners  under  the  responsibility  of  a  EURES  partner.  For  other  EURES 
services that they do not offer themselves, a referral system to other EURES partners 
must be set up. This will ensure that clients will still have access to the full EURES 
service package.  

4.4. 

The European co-ordination office (EURESco) 

The European Commission will ensure the overall co-ordination of the network and assist in 
helping  it  carry  out  the  relevant  activities.  In  concrete  terms  this  will  be  done  by  providing 
horizontal support in terms of:  

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• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Operation  of  the  EURES  Job  Mobility  portal  and  other  IT  services  needed  for  the 
exchange and clearance of vacancies, CVs and other information and for external and 
internal communication  

Information and communication activities 

Training of EURES staff 

Facilitation of networking, mutual learning, exchange of good practice etc. 

Supporting  the  implementation  of  targeted  labour  mobility  schemes,  such  as  Your 
First EURES Job. 

To  support  the  implementation  of  the  Decision  and  the  Regulation,  the  overall 
coordination of the EURES network and its activities will be reinforced. This will be 
to the benefit of the EURES network as it would reflect better the post crisis reality 
on the ground i.e. the needs of the growing number of actors involved in contributing 
to  the  Europe  2020  objectives  and  the  major  changes  in  labour  markets  and 
employment  service  provision.  The  national  co-ordination  offices  and  EURES 
partners  will  be  called  upon  to  actively  participate  in  the  development  and 
implementation  of  such  horizontal  support  activities  to  ensure  ownership  and  an 
adequate roll out across the Union.  

Bearing  in  mind  the  increased  demand  for  a  high  quality  personalised  service 
covering  the  full  service  package  on  matching,  placement  and  recruitment,  job 
descriptions and profiles for EURES advisers need to be updated and corresponding 
training  activities  to  build  a  common  service  culture  will  need  to  be  enhanced. 
Moreover,  new  communication  activities  could  increase  the  awareness  of  the 
services  provided  by  the  network  and  the  EURES  Job  Mobility  Portal  by  targeting 
more  and  different  categories  of  jobseekers,  job  changers  and  employers,  thus 
reinforcing opportunities for employment through geographical labour mobility.  

4.5. 

The national coordination offices 

The national coordination offices will be responsible for the organisation and coordination of 
the work of the EURES partners in their respective countries. They should in particular ensure 
that  the  technical  and  functional  infrastructure  is  in  place  allowing  for  the  exchange  of 
vacancies, CVs etc.  

The national co-ordination office will appoint EURES partners and supervise their activities, 
as  well  as  plan  and  co-ordinate  the  activities  of  the  national  EURES  network.  The 
appointment of EURES partners is described in the following section.  

As the designation of a national co-ordination office is an obligation following directly from 
the  Regulation,  Member  States  must  ensure  that  the  co-ordination  office  gets  the  staff  and 
other  resources  necessary  to  carry  out  its  tasks.  There  should  be  one  National  EURES  co-
ordinator in charge of the management of the office, assisted by a sufficient number of staff to 
ensure the coordination and provision of horizontal support to the national network. 

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4.6. 

The EURES partners 

EURES  partners  will  be  appointed  by  the  National  co-ordination  offices.  Organisations  that 
would like to become EURES members should therefore apply to their respective national co-
ordination  office.  Making  use  of  the  implementing  powers  conferred  by  article  38  of 
Regulation 492/2011 on freedom of movement for workers, the European Commission may 
also  appoint  EURES  partners.  This  should,  however,  be  exceptional,  notably  when  an 
organisation that is not already a EURES partner is selected as beneficiary in a Commission 
call  for  proposals  for  a  targeted  labour  mobility  scheme.  Even  if  the  Partner  has  been 
appointed by the Commission the national co-ordination office should be responsible for co-
ordination and supervision of its work in the context of EURES. 

The  appointment  of  EURES  partners  will  be  based  on  a  transparent  accreditation  system 
designed to achieve best possible outreach both in terms  of  geographical and labour market 
coverage  by  ensuring  an  adequate  participation  of  relevant  employment  services  and  labour 
market actors. The criteria for accreditation will be set at European level, but the accreditation 
will  be  carried  out  by  the  national  co-ordination  office  /  the  Member  State  concerned.  This 
would mean that, in principle, all organisations, whether public or private, meeting the criteria 
laid  down  in  the  accreditation  system  and  undertaking  to  provide  at  least  all  the  obligatory 
EURES services respecting the required service levels and other quality standards should be 
accepted as EURES partners, including in relation to the training of EURES advisers.  

A EURES Partner should set up one or several contact points where the clients can access its 
services. Contact points should preferably comprise several channels, such as placement and 
recruitment offices, call centres, self service tools, online web sites etc. and could be operated 
by  the  EURES  partner  itself  or  in  co-operation  with  other  EURES  Partners  or  Associated 
EURES  partners.  This  could,  for  example,  be  the  case  with  contact-points  in  cross-border 
regions. 

Each contact point must clearly indicate which services in the EURES Service catalogue are 
available.  It  is  not  necessary  for  every  contact  point  to  provide  all  obligatory  universal 
services but a EURES Partner must be able to provide these in their entirety. EURES partners 
must also be fully aware of the services provided by all other EURES partners so that clients 
can always be referred to the most appropriate EURES partner.  

A EURES Partner must in particular participate in what in the Regulation is referred to as the 
"machinery for vacancy clearance". This means the exchange of "details of vacancies which 
could  be  filled  by  nationals  of  other  Member  States"  and  "details  of  applications  for 
employment" which has been interpreted as including CVs of jobseekers potentially interested 
in working in another country. The Commission will develop and maintain the necessary IT 
solutions to allow for this exchange. 

Subject  to  the  above  requirements,  Member  States  could  envisage  developing  different 
criteria  and  modalities  for  the  participation  of  associated  EURES  Partners  to  reflect  the 
national,  territorial  and  institutional  set-up  and  competences  and  build  up  the  best  possible 
composition of the national EURES network.  

4.7. 

EURES services 

The  full  service  package  of  EURES  should  cover  all  phases  of  the  process  leading  to  a 
placement, including recruitment, job matching, information and advice, from pre-recruitment 

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preparation  to  post-placement  assistance.  The  nature  of  all  services  will  be  detailed  in  the 
EURES service catalogue. There will be a distinction between Universal and Complementary 
services. 

Universal services are those that follow directly from the obligations set out in the Regulation 
and  will,  therefore  be  obligatory  for  all  EURES  partners  to  provide.  Universal  services  are 
essentially  related  to  the  "clearance  of  vacancies  and  applications  for  employment"  and  the 
connected  activities  in  recruitment,  matching,  placement  and  provision  of  information  and 
advice. 

Complementary services are not obligatory in the sense of the Regulation but fulfil important 
labour  market  needs,  such  as  assistance  and  help  to  integrate  incoming  or  returning 
jobseekers. 

All  services  to  jobseekers  and  workers  must  be  entirely  free  of  charge.  If  EURES  partners 
charge  for  their  services  to  other  clients  they  may  not  levy  charges  that  are  different  from 
what applies to other similar services. If EURES partners receive EU funding they must make 
sure that there is no double financing of the services they provide.  

4.8. 

The EURES Management Board 

The  current  High  Level  Strategy  Group  will  be  replaced  by  a  EURES  Management  Board. 
Each  Member  State  will  have  two  representatives,  one  of  whom  may  represent  the  national 
ESF  authority  where  ESF  funding  is  used  to  support  the  national  co-ordination  office. 
Representatives  of  social  partner  organisation  at  the  European  level  shall  be  invited  as 
observers. The Management Board shall assist the Commission and the national o-ordination 
offices by promoting and overseeing the development of EURES and will be consulted on all 
strategic  aspects  of  planning,  development,  implementation,  monitoring  and  evaluation  of 
EURES services. 

4.9. 

The EURES Co-ordination group 

The  Commission  and  the  representatives  of  the  national  co-ordination  offices  will  regularly 
meet in the EURES Co-ordination group to co-ordinate the development, implementation and 
monitoring of EURES, e.g. by preparing annual work programmes and their implementation. 
Representatives  of  Social  partner's  organisations,  EURES  partners,  EURES  Associated 
Partners and other experts can be invited when appropriate.  

Permanent or ad hoc expert working groups can be set up to handle specific issues, such as 
planning and implementation of horizontal support activities..  

4.10.  The EURES Charter 

The  current  EURES  Charter  and  the  EURES  guidelines  will  be  replaced  by  a  new  EURES 
Charter,  valid  for  a  specific  period  of  time  and  that  will  provide  guidance  for  the  EURES 
service delivery. In particular, the Charter will define the accreditation system to be used for 
the appointment of EURES partners as well as details on operational issues such as objectives, 
reporting,  data  collection  and  quality  standards,  the  EURES  Service  catalogue,  the 
development  and  operation  of  innovative  and  efficient  transnational  and  cross-border  co-
operation, task descriptions and profiles of co-ordinators and other EURES personnel.  

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5. 

THE WAY FORWARD  

The proposed new Commission decision is subject to consultation in the Advisory Committee 
for  free  movement  of  workers  and  the  EURES  High  Level  Strategy  as  foreseen  in  the 
Regulation  492/2011  and  the  COM  decision  2003/8.  It  is  foreseen  to  terminate  the 
consultation process by summer 2012 and then quickly proceed with the adoption of the new 
Commission decision that should enter into force by 1 January 2014. In parallel the legislative 
process  will  continue  with  regards  to  the  Commission  proposals  for  the  EU  Programme  for 
Social Change and Innovation (PSCI) and the European Social Fund (ESF) regulation under 
which  EURES  activities  at  European  and  national/cross  border  levels  will  be  respectively 
eligible for funding.  

The three elements of the EURES reform cannot be seen in isolation; they are logically linked 
and  interdependent.  With  this  reform  EURES  will  be  transformed  into  an  effective  and 
efficient employment instrument using the full potential of Regulation 492/2011 and creating 
added value for jobseekers, job changers and employers to the benefit of a better functioning 
European  labour  market.  In  conjunction  with  the  other  legislative  initiatives  to  remove 
outstanding legal, tax and practical obstacles to the free movement of workers as listed in the 
Communication "Towards a job-rich recovery". It should also lead to more intra-EU mobility 
and  a  better  matching  between  the  supply  and  demand  for  labour,  thus  contributing  to 
employment, recovery and long-term growth.  

The  reformed  EURES  will  in  particular  provide  more  transparency  on  the  European  job 
vacancy  market.  New  EURES  partners  from  all  types  of  employment  services  will  be 
involved in the clearance of vacancies at European level. The EURES outreach both in terms 
of geographical and labour market coverage will be significantly increased by the inclusion of 
new partner organisations into EURES; this will also strengthen the delivery of personalised 
services to jobseekers, job changers and employers through the reinforced network of EURES 
advisers. The demand-driven elements of the EURES service offer will be at the disposal of 
the  employers  experiencing  recruitment  difficulties  and  are  especially  focusing  on  filling 
bottleneck vacancies.  

Overall the reformed EURES will produce more and better results in terms of placements and 
advice given to jobseekers, job changers and employers.  

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