REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS on EURES activity July 2020 - June 2022 Submitted pursuant to Article 33 of Regulation (EU) 2016/589
Date: 2023-11-28
Institutions: Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, European Commission
Subjects: EURES, administrative cooperation, employment service, exchange of information, free movement of workers, frontier worker, job access, job vacancy, labour mobility

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 28.11.2023  COM(2023) 724 final  REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS on EURES activity July 2020 - June 2022     Submitted pursuant to Article 33 of Regulation (EU) 2016/589  
 
 
Table of Contents 

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .............................................................................................................. 1 

KEY ACRONYMS .......................................................................................................................... 3 

1 

INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................. 4 

2  MAIN ACTIVITIES OF THE EURES NETWORK: JULY 2020 – JUNE 2022 ................... 4 

2.1  Activities in EURES countries ............................................................................ 4 

2.1.1  General support services for workers and employers................................... 4 

2.1.2 

Specific support services .............................................................................. 5 

2.1.3  Resources and governance ........................................................................... 6 

2.2  Horizontal support activities from the EURES European Coordination Office .. 9 

2.2.1  Coordination and governance support .......................................................... 9 

2.2.2  Operation and development of the EURES portal and related IT support ... 9 

2.2.3 

Training and professional development ..................................................... 10 

2.2.4  Networking, exchange of good practice and mutual learning .................... 11 

2.2.5 

Information and communication activities ................................................. 11 

2.2.6  Analysis of geographical and occupational mobility ................................. 12 

2.2.7  Development  of  an  appropriate  cooperation  and  clearance  structure  for 
apprenticeships and traineeships .............................................................................. 12 

2.2.8 

Financial resources ..................................................................................... 12 

3 

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE REGULATION IN THE MEMBER STATES .................. 12 

3.1  Composition of the network and organisational matters ................................... 13 

3.1.1 

Implementation ........................................................................................... 13 

3.1.2  Challenges .................................................................................................. 13 

3.2  Governance and interaction with organisations outside the EURES network... 13 

3.2.1 

Implementation ........................................................................................... 13 

3.2.2  Challenges .................................................................................................. 14 

3.3  Broadening the network ..................................................................................... 14 

3.3.1 

Implementation ........................................................................................... 14 

3.3.2  Challenges .................................................................................................. 14 

3.4 

Job vacancies and CV exchanges ...................................................................... 15 

3.4.1 

Implementation ........................................................................................... 15 

3.4.2  Challenges .................................................................................................. 15 

3.5 

Support services ................................................................................................. 16 

 
 
 
 
3.5.1 

Implementation ........................................................................................... 16 

3.5.2  Challenges .................................................................................................. 17 

3.6 

Information exchange, programming, and performance measurement ............. 17 

3.6.1 

Implementation ........................................................................................... 17 

3.6.2  Challenges .................................................................................................. 17 

3.7  Recommendations addressed from the previous reporting period ..................... 17 

4 

IMPLEMENTATION  OF  THE  REGULATION  BY  THE  EUROPEAN  COMMISSION 
AND THE EUROPEAN COORDINATION OFFICE ......................................................... 18 

4.1  Regulation requirements .................................................................................... 18 

4.2 

Implementation .................................................................................................. 19 

4.3  Challenges .......................................................................................................... 19 

4.4  Recommendations addressed from the previous reporting period ..................... 20 

5 

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ................................................................ 21 

5.1  Conclusions ........................................................................................................ 21 

5.2  Recommendations to European Coordination Office, managed by the European 
Labour Authority .......................................................................................................... 22 

5.3  Key takeaways for the Commission .................................................................. 24 

 
 
 
 
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 

This  Biennial  Report  provides  an  overview  of  the  activities  carried  out  by  the  EURES  network 
between 1 July 2020 and 30 June 2022 as well as a description of the state of play of the application 
of  the  EURES  Regulation  (EU)  2016/589  as  of  June  2022  as  provided  for  in  Article  33  of  this 
Regulation. It is to be noted that the period covered in the report was  affected by the COVID-19 
pandemic which caused the closure of borders, several lockdowns and restricted travel. 

Launched in 1994, EURES is a cooperation network between the European Commission (EC), the 
European  Labour  Authority  (ELA),  the  national  Public  Employment  Services  (PES)  and  other 
admitted organisations in all the EU countries, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland and, in 
parts of the reference period, the United Kingdom (hereafter: ‘EURES countries’). The main goal of 
the EURES network is the support of fair intra-EU labour mobility. EURES services are delivered 
through  the  EURES  staff  across  all  the  EURES  countries,  and  the  European  job  mobility  portal 
(‘EURES portal’). 

As required in the EURES regulation, an ex-post evaluation of the EURES activities and effects of 
this regulation was published in 2021 by the Commission. Several areas of improvements have been 
identified in this evaluation, and the present report aims to provide an overview of the progress made 
from the second semester 2020 until the first semester 2022.  

The EURES network has been very active between July 2020 and June 2022. EURES network staff 
handled and processed 445 206 job applications and 718 168 job vacancies, and 18 935 events were 
organised across the network. 

At  the  operational  level,  the  main  activities  of  the  EURES  countries  during  the  current 
implementation  period  focused  on  the  provision  of  general  support  services  to  employers  and 
jobseekers.  In  addition,  specific  support  services  on  apprenticeships  and  traineeships,  post-
recruitment  assistance  and  mobility  schemes  were  provided  throughout  the  network.  During  the 
reporting period, the EURES European Coordination Office (ECO) function was transferred from 
the  Commission  to  ELA  after  the  creation  of  the  latter.  The  Commission  however  remains 
responsible for the legislative and policy aspects of EURES, as well as the funding schemes under 
EURES.  

At the regulatory level, several advancements in the implementation of the EURES Regulation were 
reported by the EURES countries, including: 

•  Most  EURES  countries  have  in  place  an  admission  system  for  potential  new  Members  and 
Partners to enlarge their networks and several new Members and Partners have been admitted. 
The  EURES  regulation  opens  for  private  employment  services  and  related  services  to  be 
partners in the network. Progress in opening the network to other partners remains nevertheless 
limited. 

•  All  EURES  countries  are  connected  to  transfer  job  vacancies  to  the  EURES  portal,  and  a 
majority of the countries transfer CVs from the national level to the EURES portal. The transfer 
of  traineeships  and  apprenticeships  to  the  EURES  portal  is  however  limited  to  half  of  the 
EURES countries. 

•  Almost  all  EURES  countries  managed  to  adopt  the  European  classification  of  skills, 
qualifications, and occupations (ESCO)1 or to map their national classifications to ESCO and 
some EURES countries began to transfer vacancies and job applications encoded with ESCO 
to the EURES portal. 

This report analyses if and how the implementation of the EURES Regulation has been carried out. 
Some  challenges  and  obstacles  discussed  in  this  report  remain  to  be  addressed  by  the  National 
Coordination Offices (NCOs). In particular, the enlargement of the network with the admission of 
new Members and Partners slowed down significantly due to the COVID-19 pandemic. There is also 

1 

 
still room for improvement when it comes to the EURES brand awareness across Europe. Moreover, 
further (automated) transmission of job vacancies, as well as increased compliance of the CV’s and 
job  applications  forwarded  to  the  EURES  portal  with  the  regulatory  requirements  set  out  by  the 
EURES Regulation is necessary.  

Moving forward, to achieve the objectives of the EURES regulation and to further ensure fair intra-
EU labour mobility, EURES countries are recommended to enhance their efforts in admitting new 
Members and Partners. In view of the increase in the size of the EURES network, a reflection should 
be undertaken by EURES countries on their internal governance and coordination mechanisms to 
support  the  growing  network.  In  a  period  of  high  labour  and  skills  shortages,  EURES  is  not  yet 
achieving its potential in offering EU answers to the shortages present in many sectors and regions. 
In order to be able to ensure relevant, effective, and efficient cross-border job matching, EURES 
countries also need to continue their efforts when it comes to the automation of the transfer of job 
vacancies  and  CVs,  while  completing  the  ongoing  mapping  of  national  classification  systems  to 
ESCO should remain a priority for the network.  

1 ESCO is the multilingual classification of European Skills, Competences, and Occupations. More information can be found 
at https://esco.ec.europa.eu/en. 

2 

 
 
 
 
 
KEY ACRONYMS 

Acronym 

Description 

API 

CBP 

CV 

EaSI 

EC 

ECG 

ECO 

EEA 

ELA 

EOJD 

ESCO 

ESF+ 

EURES portal 

EU 

FTE 

JV 

MFF 

NCO 

PC 

PES 

PMS 

SDG 

TMS 

UK 

YFEJ 

2FA 

Application Programming Interface 

Cross-Border Partnerships 

Curriculum Vitae 

Employment and Social Innovation Programme 

European Commission 

EURES Coordination Group 

European Coordination Office 

European Economic Area 

European Labour Authority 

European Online Job Days 

European Skills, Competences and Occupations 

European Social Fund Plus 

European job mobility portal 

European Union 

Full Time Equivalent 

Job Vacancy 

Multiannual Financial Framework 

National Coordination Office 

Programming Cycle 

Public Employment Services 

Performance Measurement System 

Single Digital Gateway 

Targeted Mobility Schemes 

United Kingdom 

Your First EURES Job 

Two-factor Authentication 

3 

 
1 

INTRODUCTION 

This Biennial Report provides an overview of the activities carried out by the EURES network between 
July 2020 and June 2022 as well as a description of the state of play of the application of the EURES 
Regulation (EU) 2016/589 (hereafter “the Regulation”) based on Member States’ notifications as of 
June 2022 as provided for in Article 33 of this Regulation. 

During  the  reporting  period,  EURES  operations  were  significantly  affected  by  the  outbreak  of  the 
COVID-19  pandemic  and  stakeholders  had  to  cope  with  closed  borders,  lockdowns,  and  restricted 
travelling during extended periods, causing a lot of uncertainty and pressure on all of them. Secondly, 
on  4  March  2022,  following  a  unanimous  decision  by  Member  States,  the  Temporary  Protection 
Directive  was  activated  for  those  people  fleeing  Russia’s  unjustified  invasion  of  Ukraine.  It  gave 
protection  to  millions  of  displaced  persons  and  provided  them  with  access  to  the  labour  market, 
education  and  vocational  training  and  healthcare.  In  some  EURES  countries’  Public  Employment 
Services (PES) had to prioritise tasks related to the welcoming of persons fleeing from the Russian’s 
war of aggression against Ukraine on their territory. Thirdly, from an organisational standpoint, in line 
with Article 6 of Regulation (EU) 2019/1149, the responsibility for managing the EURES European 
Coordination  Office  (ECO)  was  transferred  from  the  European  Commission  (EC)  to  the  European 
Labour Authority (ELA) and the transfer was completed in May 2021. Finally, an extensive ex-post 
evaluation of EURES, as required by the Regulation, was finalised by the Commission in 20212 five 
years after the entry into force of the Regulation.  

Launched in 1994 EURES is a cooperative network between the European Commission, the European 
Labour  Authority  (ELA),  the  national  Public  Employment  Services  (PES)  and  other  Members  and 
Partners,  in  all  the  EU  countries,  Iceland,  Liechtenstein,  Norway,  Switzerland  and  the  United 
Kingdom3  (hereafter:  ‘EURES  countries’).  EURES  facilitates  the  free  movement  of  workers  by 
providing information and employment support services to workers and employers, and by enhancing 
cooperation and information exchange between its member organisations.  

The  EURES  Regulation  (EU)  2016/589  created  a  bigger  and  stronger  network  of  European 
employment services, both public and private, in order to deliver a more efficient exchange of labour 
market information across borders in support of job placements across the EU/EEA area. The main 
changes introduced with the new EURES Regulation compared to the previous legal basis are linked 
to enhanced transparency through an increase in the number of jobs advertised on the EURES Portal, 
including apprenticeships and traineeships that are subject to an employment relationship; improved 
online matching of job vacancies and CVs; provision of a minimum agreed package of services for 
jobseekers  and  employers;  and  enlargement  of  the  network.  The  Regulation  is  supported  by  six 
implementing decisions4 ensuring a uniform implementation across the EURES countries. 

2 For more information about the EURES Ex-post evaluation: 
https://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=738&langId=en&pubId=8370&furtherPubs=yes. 
3 The UK membership in EURES ceased on 31 December 2020 
4 Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2017/1255 of 11 July 2017 on a template for the description of national systems 
and procedures to admit organisations to become EURES Members and Partners. 

4 

 
 
 
 
 
After almost 30 years of successful activities,  EURES forms an essential part of the labour market 
support structure that the EU has developed over past decades to support fair mobility and improve its 
social  and  economic  performance.  EURES  services  are  delivered  through  two  complementary 
channels - the EURES human network, comprising EURES staff across the network, and the European 
job mobility portal (EURES Portal) with a number of online service tools available. 

EURES services to jobseekers and employers 

In accordance with Article 7 of EURES Regulation, the EURES network is composed of: 

•  The National Coordination Offices (NCOs) designated by the EURES countries and 

generally linked to either their Public Employment Services (PES) or their Ministry of 
Labour; 
the European Coordination Office (ECO), now hosted by the European Labour Authority, 
provides horizontal support to NCOs; 

• 

•  other EURES Members and Partners, which, according to Article 12 of the EURES 

Regulation, are the organisations performing operational activities within the EURES 
network, such as private employment services, social partners, and universities. 

Together, the Commission, the European Labour Authority, and the  NCOs constitute the European 
Coordination  Group  (ECG)  of  the  EURES  network,  which  has  a  coordinating  role  concerning  the 
activities and functioning of the network.  

Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2017/1256 of 11 July 2017 on templates and procedures for the exchange of 
information on the EURES network national work programmes at Union level. 
Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2017/1257 of 11 July 2017 on the technical standards and formats required for 
a uniform system to enable matching of job vacancies with job applications and CVs on the EURES Portal. 
Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2018/170 of 2 February 2018 on uniform detailed specifications for data 
collection and analysis to monitor and evaluate the functioning of the EURES network. 
Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2018/1020 of 18 July 2018 on the adoption and updating of the list of skills, 
competences and occupations of the European classification for the purpose of automated matching through the 
EURES common IT platform 
Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2018/1021 of 18 July 2018 on the adoption of technical standards and formats 
necessary for the operation of the automated matching through the common IT platform using the European 
classification and the interoperability between national systems and the European classification. 

5 

 
 
 
2  MAIN ACTIVITIES OF THE EURES NETWORK: JULY 2020 – JUNE 2022 

This section describes the main activities of the EURES network throughout the reporting period.  

2.1 Activities in EURES countries 

Engaging  with  employers  and  jobseekers  to  provide  them  with  support  during  and  after  the 
recruitment process is  a key activity of EURES countries, broken down into general and specific 
support services.   

2.1.1  General support services for workers and employers 

2.1.1.1  Matching and placing activities  
Between July 2020 and June 2022, EURES staff handled and processed 445 206 job applications and 
718 168 job vacancies which is significantly lower than in the previous reporting period, mainly 
due to the dramatic slowdown of EURES activities during the pandemic and the allocation of 
EURES staff to other PES activities.  18 935 events were organised across the network. Of these, 
73%  were  information  events,  9%  were  recruitment  events  and  the  remaining  18%  were  a 
combination of recruitment and information activities. 

By the end of the second semester of 2022, 93 186 jobseekers and 5 919 employers were registered 
on the EURES portal via its self-service function. Based on conservative estimates5, the EURES 
network facilitated 36 154 placements in the second semester of 2020, 24 463 placements in 2021 
and 25 163 placements in the first semester of 20226, via both the EURES portal and the national 
EURES networks. 

2.1.1.2  Information and guidance  
Examples of information and guidance activities for jobseekers and employers provided by EURES 
staff  include  in-person  and  virtual  one-to-one  counselling,  support  with  drafting  job  vacancies, 
organisation of workshops and online events. Overall, 5 516 313 individual contacts with workers and 
372 616 with employers were reported between July 2020 and June 2022. Concerning the contacts 
with  workers  and  employers,  most  contacts  by  EURES  advisers  were  with  workers  from  another 
EURES country (56%) and 27% of the contacts with employers were made by EURES advisers with 
employers from another EURES country. The main topics discussed with workers were placements 
(40% of the contacts), whereas general information on EURES (39% of contacts) was the most popular 
topic discussed with employers. 

2.1.2  Specific support services  

2.1.2.1  Support in cross-border regions  
In  2020-2022,  eight  Cross-Border  Partnerships  (CBPs)  benefited  from  support  of  the  EU 
Employment  and  Social  Innovation  Programme  (EaSI)7.  EURES  cross-border  partnerships  are 
groupings  of  EURES  Members  or  Partners  and,  where  relevant,  other  stakeholders  outside  of  the 

5  Combining  the  results  from  the  EURES  Performance  Measurement  System  and  estimations  based  on  the  customer 
satisfaction survey. 
6 It is to be noted that workers/companies do not always report on these data. 
7  The  financial  support  to  cross-border  partnerships  through  calls  for  proposals  such  as  VP/2019/006.  EaSI  –  EURES 
“Cross-border  partnerships  and  support  to  cooperation  on  intra-EU  mobility  for  EEA  countries  and  social  partners  is 
implemented by the Commission”. 

6 

 
 
EURES network, which set-up regional structures for long-term cooperation in cross-border regions 
to offer services in the areas of placement, recruitment, and information for cross-border commuters.  

A new call for proposals was launched in 2021, enabling seven CBPs to receive grants from the EaSI 
strand of the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) for the period 2022 to 2024. EURES CBPs reported 
overall 162 160 individual contacts with jobseekers,  of which 39 022  contacts during the second 
semester  of  2020,  97 971  contacts  in  2021  and  25 167  contacts  during  the  first  semester  of  2022. 
EURES CBPs reported overall 28 079 individual contacts with employers, of which 8 096 contacts 
during the second semester of 2020, 16 727 during 2021 and 3 256 during the first semester of 2022. 
The decrease in contacts in the first half of 2022 is due to two projects having ended in December 
2021, and the newly awarded projects suffering from a slow take-up of activities until fall 2022. More 
than 11 694 matchings occurred thanks to the CBPs in the period covered by this report. The focus of 
CBPs’ activities was mostly on the provision of information to jobseekers and employers, and the 
topics  most discussed with  both  groups  were social security, placements,  and general  questions on 
EURES.  

2.1.2.2  EURES Targeted Mobility Scheme (TMS) 

In 2019, the Commission set up an integrated action: the “EURES Targeted Mobility Scheme (TMS)” 
to  merge  two  ongoing  intra-EU  job  mobility  schemes,  "Your  first  EURES  job"  (YFEJ)  and 
“Reactivate”  and  ensure  their  continuity  and  further  development  as  part  of  the  TMS.  The  general 
objective of TMS is to help EU/EEA jobseekers (in particular unemployed and vulnerable groups) to 
find a job, traineeship, apprenticeship in another EU Member State or EEA country, and employers 
(especially  short  and  medium-sized  enterprises)  to  fill-in  their  hard-to-fill  vacancies  by  recruiting 
workers from another EU/EEA countries. Currently, the action is carried out by Sweden, Germany, 
and  Italy  as  lead  countries8.  Due  to  the  COVID-19  pandemic,  the  implementation  of  the  different 
projects in 2020 and 2021 had slowed down9. 

2.1.2.3  Post-recruitment assistance  
Post-recruitment assistance aims to ensure the best possible integration of mobile workers into their 
new positions abroad. EURES countries focused on providing information to workers and employers 
prior to signing an employment contract. Overall, 18 EURES countries reported having organised 
post-recruitment activities in 2020 and 2021 and 24 EURES countries had planned to carry-out these 
activities in 2022, based on their work programmes. Most activities consisted of providing information 
and guidance on tax and social security issues as well as guidance on finding housing, jobs for spouses 
and education for their families. Some EURES countries go even further for incoming employees and 
aim to retain them by offering them free language courses as well as e-learning to find long-term jobs 
to promote their integration.  

2.1.2.4 Support to youth – apprenticeships and traineeships  
Activities linked to apprenticeships and traineeships  that are subject to an employment relationship 
saw  an  increase  compared  to  the  previous  reporting  period.  19  EURES  countries  reported  having 

8 During the second semester 2020, the projects were led by Sweden and Germany and during the first semester of 2021, 
there was a second German-led project and a new Italy-led project. 
9 From January 2020 to June 2020, the TMS projects enabled 3 607 placements, supporting 239 small-and-medium-sized 
enterprises in 30 countries. 

7 

 
 
organised  activities  related  to  the  support  of  apprenticeships  and  traineeships  in  2020,  16  EURES 
countries  organised  such  activities  in  2021,  and  21  EURES  countries  planned  to  organize  these 
activities in 2022, based on their work programmes. The reasons why some EURES countries do not 
provide this type of activities are because they do not fall within the scope of the country’s PES services 
and/or these practices are not common in their country. 

In some countries, apprenticeship  and traineeship offers are exchanged on the EURES  portal, with 
212 726 apprenticeship and 17 001 internships having been offered in total throughout the reference 
period.  

2.1.3  Resources and governance 

2.1.3.1  Human resources  
EURES  staff  include  both  advisers  working  on  EURES  in  national  or  regional  PES  and  in  other 
EURES  Member  or  Partner  organisations.10  Overall,  the  number  of  EURES  staff  members  have 
increased by 13% while the number of full time equivalent (FTE) has decreased by 11% during the 
reporting period, which indicates that more advisers were allocated to EURES tasks but that overall 
less resources were dedicated to EURES in terms of FTEs. At the end of the second semester of 2020, 
the EURES network had 2 122 EURES staff members (1 311). At the end of 2021, the number of 
active EURES staff members rose to 2 421, but the number of FTE dropped to 1 100. During the first 
semester  of  2022,  the  number  of  active  EURES  staff  members  slightly  declined  to  2 405  and  the 
number of FTE increased to 1 163.11 

2.1.3.2  Financial resources 
The composition of the NCOs’ working budget and the size differ from one EURES country to another. 
According  to  the  information  provided  in  the  NCOs’  work  programmes12,  7  EURES  countries 
mentioned  that  they  received  European  funding.,  nine  EURES  countries  mentioned  having  only 
received national funding and four mentioned that they only received “other” types of funding. The 
remaining EURES countries mentioned that they received a mix of funding from different sources. 

In addition, financial resources are also available to projects carried out in EURES countries under the 
EaSI Programme13 (as of 2021, the EURES axis has become a strand under the ESF+), such as for 
the TMS and the CBPs.  

2.1.3.3  IT infrastructure  
The COVID-19 pandemic  forced  a wide-spread  adoption of  remote working  which accelerated the 
digitalisation of EURES operations. In addition to providing IT equipment to allow EURES staff 
to  perform  their  work  remotely,  EURES  countries  also  ensured  access  to  relevant  software  for 
online  meetings  and  events.  Jobseekers  and  employers  also  became  more  inclined  to  look  for 
jobs/employees  online. Therefore,  many EURES countries  have invested in  updating their national 
platforms/websites and improving their digital services. This has also been accelerated by the quality 

10 Data reported by EURES countries as part of the PMS. 
11 It is to be noted that not all countries provide FTE data. 
12 Each year, NCOs are requested to provide a Work Programme (WP) describing the activities that they plan to undertake 
during the following year. 
13 VP/2019/010: EaSI-EURES - Support to national classification inventories & innovative national online services for 
mobile workers.  

8 

 
 
standards  imposed  by  the  Single  Digital  Gateway  (SDG)  Regulation14.  This  will  result  in  further 
interoperability of the EURES portal with and national EURES platforms.   

In  the  area  of  interoperability,  EURES  countries  continued  working  on  improving  their  IT 
infrastructure for the transfer of job vacancies and CVs to the EURES portal. To match job vacancies 
with  relevant  CVs,  the  European  classification  of  skills/competences  and  occupations  (ESCO) 
mapping requirements will serve as an enabler. Further changes to IT infrastructure were necessary in 
some EURES countries to facilitate the broadening of the network and to align the IT infrastructures 
of new EURES Members and Partners (e.g., Germany, Hungary, Netherlands, and Portugal). 

To increase the security of personal data on the EURES portal a mandatory 2-Factor Authentication 
system (2FA) was introduced in January 2022. Before the introduction, there were 151 731 registered 
accounts on the EURES portal, including jobseekers, company managers and contacts, and EURES 
Members and Partners. Two months after the implementation of the mandatory 2FA, the number of 
registered  accounts  dropped  significantly.  Several  mitigating  measures  have  been  implemented, 
including  an  awareness  raising  and  information  campaign  ran  for  several  months  by  ECO.  Eleven 
months after the introduction of the 2FA, the results are still unsatisfactory. Despite an increase of 
282% in the number of registered accounts (reaching 19 958 in S2 2022), those are still significantly 
lower than the number of accounts prior to the introduction of the 2FA. Jobseekers, employers and 
EURES members (mainly PES) refrain from using EURES services requiring 2FA EU Login. As an 
additional remedial measure, a voluntary return to a 1-Factor Authentication system is currently under 
discussion. 

2.1.3.4  Governance and stakeholder cooperation  
Expanding the EURES network has been one of the key strategic objectives of the network, hence the 
continuous efforts to encourage other stakeholders to join the network during the reporting period. The 
COVID-19 pandemic however made it challenging to keep in contact and recruit additional members 
and partners.  For several months it was impossible  to  hold  physical  meetings  to introduce EURES 
operations to new stakeholders and priorities shifted in PES and for other employment stakeholders to 
focus on other tasks that were put on top of the agenda to tackle the major labour market transitions 
forced by the pandemic. As soon as measures lifted mid-2021, it became easier to regain contact with 
potential stakeholders.  

2.1.3.5  Communication in EURES countries  
In the reference period, 12 887 events were held, reaching 537 696 people. The most common type of 
event  held  was  informational  events,  followed  by  mixed  events  (information  and  recruitment)  and 
purely recruitment events. The number of people reached by the different types of events followed the 
same pattern. The more events were organised, the higher the reach, except for the second semester of 
2021.15  

14 Regulation (EU) 2018/1724 establishing a single digital gateway to provide access to information, to procedures and to 
assistance and problem-solving services. 
15 2248 events were organised in S2 2020 and reached 131 500 people. 2 945 events were organised in S1 2021 and reached 
139 800 people. 3 503 events were organised in S2 2021 but only reached 123 929 people. 4 191 events were organised in 
S1 2022 and reached 142 467 people. 

9 

 
 
Some events at national level were organised in cooperation with other EU networks present on the 
ground. 16 The cooperation with other networks was a fruitful way to create synergies, an example of 
this collaboration is the information sessions targeted at students organised together with EUROPE 
DIRECT centres and EURODESK. 

During  the  2020-2022  period,  communication  was  carried  out  mainly  via  social  media  (Facebook, 
Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter) and the EURES reach on social media has grown on all social media 
channels  in  the  reporting  period17.  The  communication  activities  carried  out  included  general 
information campaigns about EURES services and communication efforts targeting specific groups 
or sectors (for  example,  Norway organised information  events  for young jobseekers and Romania 
hosted information events for seasonal workers). When it comes to general information campaigns, 
ELA  coordinated  in  2021  the  “#Rights4AllSeasons”  campaign,  in  partnership  with  the  European 
Commission, the EURES network, the European Platform tackling undeclared work, EU countries and 
social partners, focusing on the enforcement and information activities in the agricultural sector. In the 
context of the European Year of Youth 2022, ECO also launched a campaign dedicated to Youth to 
raise awareness about the EURES services available to them if they are looking for a job in another 
EU country.   

2.1.3.6  Monitoring and evaluation of activities 
The  Commission  Implementing  Decision  (EU)  2018/17018  introduced  specifications  for  a  uniform 
approach to data collection and analysis to monitoring the performance of the EURES network. The 
EURES  Performance  Measurement  System  (PMS)  introduced  in  2018  established  a  unified 
programming and monitoring system at national level and facilitated the data collection within all the 
EURES Members and Partners. Since then, NCOs have provided data on five “core indicators” and 11 
“network indicators” every six months19. As a result, comparison and benchmarking of performance 
have been possible across the network since then. 

In addition to the PMS, the Programming Cycle (‘PC’, i.e., Work Programmes of all the EURES 
countries) is the main monitoring tool for yearly activities of the EURES countries. The Commission 
Implementing Decision (EU) 2017/125620 introduced the arrangements and templates to be used in the 
PC.  Each  NCO  reports  on  the  outputs  and  outcomes  of  their  national  EURES  network  in  a  yearly 
National Activity Report against the objectives set out in their National Work Programme. 

16 https://european-union.europa.eu/contact-eu/meet-us_en 
17 The number of Facebook fans increased from 497 461 in S2 2020 to 651 413 in S2 2022. The number of Twitter fans 
increased from 44 659 in S2 2020 to 49 665 in S1 2022. The number of LinkedIn fans increased from 156 375 in S2 2020 
to 260 872 in S1 2022. The number of fans on other social media increased from 19 195 in S2 2020 to 25638 in S1 2022. 
18 Commission Implementing Decision on uniform detailed specifications for data collection and analysis to monitor and 
evaluate the functioning of the EURES network. 
19 As stated in Article 32 of the EURES Regulation (EU) 2016/ and detailed in Article 1 and annex of the Commission 
Implementing Decision (EU) 2018/170 on uniform detailed specifications for data collection and analysis to monitor and 
evaluate the functioning of the EURES network. 
20  Commission  Implementing  Decision  on  templates  and  procedures  for  the  exchange  of  information  on  the  EURES 
network national work programmes at EU level. 

10 

 
 
2.2 Horizontal support activities from the EURES European Coordination Office 

2.2.1  Coordination and governance support  

ECO’s  mandate  is  to  supervise  and  facilitate  the  different  stages  of  the  PC  and  coordinate  NCOs’ 
planning.    As  required  by  Article  6  of  Regulation  (EU)  2019/1149,  the  operation  of  ECO  was 
transferred from the Commission to ELA in May 2021. 

The EURES Coordination Group21 (ECG) is the governance structure of main forum supporting the 
EURES network in carrying out its activities. It meets at regular intervals as well as on an ad hoc basis 
to  steer  the  network  activities,  discuss  the  state  of  play,  present  recent  developments  and  share 
information and good practices. These meetings bring together all NCOs, the Commission and ECO. 
Seven ECG meetings were held during the reference period.  

2.2.2  Operation and development of the EURES portal and related IT support  

With the transfer of competences from the Commission to ELA, the latter became the system owner 
of the EURES portal. The technical development and the maintenance of the portal are still handled 
by the Commission, in line with the EURES Regulation.  

The introduction of an automated matching function on the EURES portal (as required by the EURES 
Regulation22)  has  as  precondition  the  adoption  of  ESCO  by  EURES  countries,  or  alternatively  the 
mapping between national classification systems and ESCO. While a large majority of countries have 
finalised this mapping, some are still in the process of mapping or adopting. Therefore, support is being 
provided by the Commission to ensure the quality of the mapping.  

Moreover,  ECO  continued  to  launch  customer  satisfaction  surveys23  as  part  of  its  continuous 
monitoring of users’ experience on the portal. A slight decrease in the satisfaction of the users was 
noticed, as 80% of the users that replied to the survey were satisfied or very satisfied with the EURES 
portal online services, compared with 95% during the previous reporting period.  

Improving  the  EURES  portal’s  user-friendliness  was  a  key  recommendation  made  in  the  ex-post 
evaluation.  During  the  reporting  period,  ECO  continued  to  implement  changes  on  the  EURES 
portal  to  go  in  this  direction  (e.g.,  improvements  to  the  filters  and  to  the  menu),  but  stakeholders 
recognise that this needs to be further pursued.  

Since 2011, ECO has run the European (Online) Job Days (E(O)JD24) platform and supported the 
organisation of job days and recruitment events. During the reporting period, these events were held 
mostly online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, even though some were held in a hybrid format. ELA 
took over the organisation of the E(O)JDs as of April 2021 and allocated €700 K to organise events 

21 Since May 2021 the governance of the ECG is under ECO in ELA.  
22 See Article 19 of the EURES Regulation (EU) 2016/589  
23  This  survey  was  conducted  throughout  the  reporting  period  and  is  still  available  on  the  Europa  server  at 
https://ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/trunner/EURESHelpdeskSurvey2022.  The  survey  link  is  part  of  the  EURES  Helpdesk 
signature, included in all Helpdesk replies sent out by email and chat. During the 24-month reporting period, a total of 
1 188 users replied to the survey, out of 19 808 users who received the survey. 
24 The European (Online) Job Days is a platform that helps intermediary organisations, such as public employment services, 
to organise recruitment events both on-site and online – events known as ‘European Job Days’. This platform was created 
in 2011. 

11 

 
 
between April and December 2021. Between January 2022 and June 2022, ELA budgeted €400 K to 
finance the E(O)JDs. A total of 75 events were organised, compared to 65 in the previous reporting 
period.  

2.2.3  Training and professional development 

A new EURES e-learning platform for the EURES staff  was launched  in  January 2022 and new 
training courses were introduced to meet new needs for training.  

The  basic  training  continued  to  be  provided  at  national  level,  allowing  to  approach  the  national 
perspective and in particular how EURES is structured in each organisation/country and provides basic 
knowledge about EURES and its available tools. This is followed by a consolidation phase, bringing 
the European perspective to the trainings, and consisting of three sequential learning components: self-
assessment  tool  and  motivation;  online/onsite  learning  and  networking  workshop;  virtual  modules. 
Finally, the EURES Academy broadens the specific knowledge of EURES staff through both virtual 
and classroom training as well as networking activities including events and workshops. The trainings 
cover a broad range of topics, such as training on ESCO mapping, the services to jobseekers and to 
employers, communication tools and  the EURES  portal.  In total, 83 training sessions  attended by 
2 674 EURES staff were organised from July 2020 to June 2022. 

A helpdesk function continued to be provided for all users of the EURES portal and its services (i.e., 
jobseekers, employers, staff of the EURES Members and Partners, NCOs, and guest visitors). This 
service  includes  replying  to  all  inquiries  relating  to  the  services  provided  on  the  EURES  portal, 
including the extranet section25 and job mobility in general. The EURES helpdesk processed 23678 
user enquiries during the reporting period, which is significantly lower than in the previous reporting 
period in which 61 779 user enquiries were processed.  

2.2.4  Networking, exchange of good practice and mutual learning  

Networking, mutual learning and the exchange of good practices continued to be facilitated within the 
EURES network. During the reporting period a new version of the EURES extranet26 was developed. 
This  is  available  to  all  staff  members  involved  with  the  EURES  network.  The  new  version  of  the 
extranet contains a knowledge base, document repository and several other practical tools and utilities 
but has been made more secure and user-friendly.  

25  The  extranet  is  the  section  of  the  EURES  portal  only  available  to  internal  users,  such  as  EURES  advisers,  national 
coordinators, and ECO staff. It facilitates the coordination, exchange of information and administrative tasks. 
26 The EURES extranet is the name used for the intranet for the whole EURES network.  

12 

 
 
Apart from regular ECG meetings, mutual learning events and working groups27 were organised 
with representatives from all EURES countries. Five mutual learning events were organised during the 
reporting period: one about the E(O)JD28, two on the PC29 and two on the PMS30. 

2.2.5 

Information and communication activities  

The EURES network set out a new communication strategy during the reporting period, for which 
the implementation by the NCOs is still ongoing. With this new strategy, the aim is to support EURES’ 
services through two main  communication objectives: (1)  improve and increase awareness  and  the 
brand perception of EURES, including the development of a new brand booklet giving the EURES 
brand  a  holistic  look  and  feel  and  (2)  encourage  and  facilitate  more  active  collaboration  between 
EURES Members and Partners, ECO, NCOs, the Commission, and stakeholders outside the network. 
A guidance document was developed for NCOs to support the implementation of the full strategy at 
national level, and direct support from ECO’s communication team to the NCOs was also offered.  

ECO  carries-out  extensive  communication  activities,  including  the  management  of  the  EURES 
social media accounts, with 316 926 followers on Facebook, 42 636 on Twitter, 6 390 on Instagram 
(since its launch in 2021), 73 008 on LinkedIn as well as 9 000 subscribers and 25 videos published 
on YouTube. In addition, over 90 news articles were shared on the EURES portal during the reporting 
period and both internal and external newsletters are being distributed monthly. 

The EURES NCOs and the admitted Members and Partners were added to the ‘European Union around 
me’31 map hosted by the Commission. This map is a tool to locate the EU centres active in each region 
and find out about the services they provide. The next step is to add the local service points, the EURES 
Advisers.  

2.2.6  Analysis of geographical and occupational mobility 

As  per  Article  29  of  the  EURES  Regulation,  the  Commission  as  part  of  its  mandate  to  analyse 
geographical and occupational mobility trends, has published two intra-EU labour mobility reports 
(i.e., 202032 and 202133) containing key information on labour mobility flows and patterns in the EU 
and EFTA countries, with a particular focus on the labour market situation of mobile workers and the 
gender  dimension.  In  addition,  using  information  provided  by  the  NCOs  and  an  analysis  of  the 
European Labour Force Survey, two study reports on surplus and shortage occupations in 2020 
and 2021 were published.34 

27 According to ELA’s founding regulation, the Authority has the possibility to set up working groups to fulfil a specific 
task or regarding a particular policy area. To this date, ELA has four dedicated working groups in which representatives 
from Member States, the Commission and social partners share their expertise on the dedicated subject: Working Group 
on Information, Working Group on Inspections, Working Group on Mediation and European Platform tackling undeclared 
work. 
28 This mutual learning event took place on 30 September 2021. 
29 These two mutual learning events took place respectively in October 2020 and 2021. 
30 These two mutual learning events took place respectively on 17 September 2020 and 24 February 2022. 
31 Link: https://european-union.europa.eu/contact-eu/meet-us_en.  
32 Annual report on intra-EU labour mobility 2020. 
33 Annual report on intra-EU labour mobility 2021. 
34 European Commission, Report on Labour Shortages and Surpluses 2020 and 2021. 

13 

 
 
2.2.7  Development  of  an  appropriate  cooperation  and  clearance  structure  for  apprenticeships  and 

traineeships 

During  the  reporting  period,  no  additional  efforts  were  mobilised  by  ECO  to  further  develop  the 
cooperation  and  clearance  structure  for  apprenticeships  and  traineeships,  even  though  it  was  a 
recommendation made in the previous report. This is mainly a consequence of prioritising business 
continuity during the transfer of ECO to ELA. In addition, there are legal limitations in many countries 
to support further development of the clearance structure for apprenticeships and traineeships. 

2.2.8  Financial resources 

Since  the  transfer  of  the  ECO  function  from  the  Commission  to  ELA,  the  financing  of  EURES 
operations has come from different funding streams and all horizontal support is now part of ELA’s 
budget. As the transfer of competences to ELA took place gradually, not all activities were already 
financed under ELA’s budget in the early months of 2021. This allowed ELA to allocate a relatively 
lower budget to the EURES activities compared to 2022. In 2021, this budget line made € 7.5 million 
available, which increased to € 9.9 million in 202235.  

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE REGULATION IN THE MEMBER STATES 

3 
This chapter describes how the main changes introduced with the new EURES Regulation compared 
to the previous legal basis have been implemented. The changes related among other to transmitting 
all publically available JVs, all CVs for which the jobseekers have given its consent, the encoding of 
JVs and CVs with the European classification, the broadening of the EURES network to new members 
and  partners,  and  the  transmission  of  apprenticeships  and  traineeships  that  are  subject  to  an 
employment relationship. 

The analysis in this section is based on data received directly from the NCOs to a survey and checklist 
disseminated  for  the  purpose  of  this  Biennial  Report  and  it  is  complemented  by  other  sources  of 
information  made  available  by  ECO.  Each  sub-section  below  tackles  different  aspects  of  the 
implementation of the EURES Regulation and starts with a summary table36 showing the results from 
the  disseminated  implementation  checklist  (see  the  legend  below).  The  Commission  will  further 
analyse the Members States’s compliance with all requirements of the Regulation and take appropriate 
measures, if deemed required. 

Summary tables’ legend:  

*Data are reported as not available  
by the NCO or no data were reported. 

35 The budget is higher for 2022, as in 2021 ECO was still under Commission until 26 May 2021. 
36 When no other source is cited, the results presented in the sections below are based on the data from the NCOs checklists 
and surveys disseminated for the purpose of this report. 
Please note that an action consists of several sub-actions that are not detailed in the table. An action is considered completed 
(green)  if  all  its  sub-actions  are  completed.  An  action  is  considered  incomplete (red)  when  none of  its  sub-actions  are 
completed.  When  the  sub-actions  are  not  all  completed  nor  all  incomplete,  the  whole  action  is  considered  partially 
completed (orange). 

14 

Data not available*VCompleted∆Partially completedXNot completed 
 
 
 
3.1  Composition of the network and organisational matters 

3.1.1 

Implementation 

All EURES countries designated NCOs and representatives to the ECG, and appointed PES as 
EURES  Members.  Only  some  sub-actions  are  not  considered  fully  completed  for  Croatia  and 
Switzerland when it comes to Article 10.37 

3.1.2  Challenges 

No specific challenge was reported by the EURES countries in relation to this set of requirements.  

3.2  Governance and interaction with organisations outside the EURES network 

3.2.1 

Implementation 

Between 2020 and 2022, almost all EURES countries took  several steps to enhance collaboration 
and dialogue with numerous stakeholder organisations, competent authorities and EU information 
and advisory services. However, the COVID-19 pandemic made it challenging to keep up the regular 
contacts with stakeholders.  

The  pandemic  has  shown  the  importance  of  well-functioning  governance  structures  and  networks. 
During the crisis, EURES advisers showed resilience and agility as they quickly adapted to the online 
way of working and the shift of priorities in their tasks, including providing timely specific information 
about  the  COVID-19  measures  to  employers  and  jobseekers,  based  on  constantly  changing 
information. 

EURES also proved particularly useful in cross-border regions where employers and jobseekers had 
urgent needs to stay informed about COVID-19 measures. For instance, some EURES advisers joined 

37 It is to be noted that the Action 3 “Appointment of the Public Employment Services relevant for the activities in the 
EURES network as EURES  Members (Article 10)" are  considered as partially completed for Croatia and Switzerland. 
Indeed, they appointed their PES as EURES Members but some sub-actions are not yet completed.  
Concerning Switzerland, the sub-actions "did you notify the ECO about the PES identified and provide explanations in 
case of changes compared to the situation before the entry into force of the Regulation" and "In case of changes compared 
to the situation before the entry into force of the Regulation, did you communicate the changes to the PES which are not 
to be involved anymore and draw their attention to the consequences" are partially completed.  
Concerning  Croatia,  the  sub-actions  "In  case  of  changes  compared  to  the  situation  before  the  entry  into  force  of  the 
Regulation, did you communicate the changes to the PES which are not to be involved anymore and draw their attention 
to the consequences" and "In case of changes compared to the situation before the entry into force of the Regulation, have 
you communicated to the Help desk the details as regards the accounts of staff members on the EURES portal to be closed 
and as of which date?" are reported as not available. 

15 

 
 
  
 
regional working groups on rapidly changing working conditions. NCOs reported that, although this 
period  was  challenging,  the  links  with  other  parties  (e.g.,  administration,  chambers  of  commerce, 
workers, and companies) were strengthened.   

3.2.2  Challenges  

As earlier, the major challenges EURES countries continue to deal with are obstacles linked to the 
communication with external stakeholders, which were amplified by the pandemic during the reporting 
period (see section above). 

3.3  Broadening the network 

3.3.1 

Implementation 

By  the  end  of  the  reporting  period,  27  EURES  countries  had  notified  the  Commission  of  having 
established  an  admission  system  for  Members  and  Partners,  and  seven  are  in  the  process  of 
implementing  it.  Although  most  EURES  countries  continued  to  work  on  enlarging  the  EURES 
network, some of them could not make this a priority during the COVID-19 pandemic. At the end of 
this reporting period, the EURES network had admitted 26 private Members and 62 Partners out of 
the total 238 public and private organisations.38 Even though most countries had already set up systems 
to monitor the compliance of EURES Members and Partners, there was still work to be done in 
some countries.39  

3.3.2  Challenges  

The increase in the number of new Members and Partners was slower than expected. This trend 
was already noted in the previous Biennial Report and was even more important in the current reporting 
period because of the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced the NCOs to prioritise other tasks. Some 
countries added additional requirements for being accepted as a EURES Member or Partner, but these 
requirements might prevent the growth of the EURES network. 

38  The  full  overview  of  all  EURES  Members  and  Partners  can  be  found  here:  https://eures.ec.europa.eu/eures-
services/eures-your-country_en. 
39 One NCO mentioned that the pandemic caused some delays in this process and that they lack the resources to monitor 
the compliance. Some also mentioned that they do not have Members and Partners yet. 

16 

 
 
 
3.4  Job vacancies and CV exchanges  

3.4.1 

Implementation 

The provisions of Article 17(1) of the EURES Regulation set out that countries should transfer to the 
EURES portal all publicly available job vacancies and all job applications/CVs where the worker has 
consented to making the information available also to the EURES. By the end of the reporting period, 
all EURES countries had set up systems at national level to transfer Job Vacancies (JVs) to the 
EURES portal. When it comes to CVs, 28 EURES countries were setting up/had set up systems at 
national level to allow their transfer to the EURES portal40 via one single coordinated channel.  

The adoption or mapping of ESCO to established national classification systems and the transmission 
of CVs and JVs in the agreed format was ongoing41. Since the last report, most EURES countries had 
made efforts  to  map  or  adopt  ESCO. As of June 2022, 18 EURES  countries had  already mapped 
ESCO  to  their  national  classification  systems.  Four  more  EURES  countries  had  already  adopted 
ESCO. Three EURES countries had mapped ESCO to their national skills frameworks. Another four 
EURES countries had already adopted it. 

3.4.2  Challenges  

In relation to the ESCO adoption/mapping exercises, not all EURES countries were able to fulfil 
their  legal  obligation  yet.  Difficulties  persist  with  regards  to  the  compliance  with  the  technical 
standards provided by the Implementing Decision 2018/1021 for the formatting of the mapping tables, 
which are essential to enable interoperability within the EURES common IT platform. The quality of 
the established mappings (between national classification systems and ESCO) varies across countries 
and will be subject to review. The correct usage of the prescribed mapping relations is an element of 
concern in terms of homogeneity and consistency as ensuring high quality mappings is key for the 
successful implementation of automated matching on the portal.  

Concerning the transfer of CVs to the EURES portal, the NCOs that did not implement this transfer 
yet and highlighted that this is often due to IT issues at national level42. Considering the number of 

40 30 connection points were enabled to transfer CVs to the portal. It is to be noted that three connection points exist for 
Belgium (BE Actiris, BE Forem and BE VDAB). 
41 It should be noted that the implementation by EURES countries of the adoption or mapping of ESCO is a legal obligation 
that allows the sharing of CVs and JVs among the network. The Commission oversees the EURES countries’ compliance 
and took contact with the countries that are not yet compliant to ask for some clarifications. 
42 One NCO mentioned changes in their IT systems that lowered the number of CVs transferred because of the difficulty 
incurred. Another NCO mentioned that they are still working on the technical interface to enable the transfer of CVs, while 
another NCO mentioned that they still need to test their interface. 

17 

 
  
 
CVs and JVs transferred to the EURES portal, it appears that the volume especially for CVs transferred 
by some of the NCOs remains low.   

3.5  Support services 

3.5.1 

Implementation 

All EURES countries reported activities and measures taken to ensure continuity in the provision of 
support services for jobseekers and employers through their national PES. In the area of assistance 
and  information  for  workers  and  employers  on  how  to  register  and  use  the  EURES  portal,  all 
EURES  countries  ensured  that  organisations  which  were  newly  admitted  into  the  network  were 
complying with the requirements whenever they joined the network. This was also the case for the 
provision of basic information concerning the EURES portal, including the CV database, and the 
EURES network, including the contact details of relevant EURES Members and Partners at national 
level. 

Support services in cross-border regions are also provided through EURES Members and Partners. 
Over the current reporting period, the number of EURES countries providing information to cross-
border workers increased from  14 to  20, this  being in alignment with one of  the recommendations 
made in the EURES Ex-post Evaluation43.  

In accordance with the EURES regulation44, 24 EURES countries identified active labour market 
measures  to  increase  the  employment  opportunities  for  jobseekers,  to  improve  matching 
between vacancies and jobseekers and to provide job-search assistance to the jobseekers based on 
these measures. Some also ensured that those measures are no longer limited to job-search assistance 
at national level but can also be used to find employment on the territory of another Member State. 
Two other EURES countries were still in the process of enabling this assistance. 

3.5.2  Challenges  

Many users experienced difficulties in logging in to the portal (e.g., QR-code Login methods that are 
not supported in every country) and some occasional downtimes of the portal were also highlighted as 
portal access improvement opportunities45. 

43 EURES Ex-post evaluation: 
https://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=738&langId=en&pubId=8370&furtherPubs=yes, p. 12. 
44 EURES regulation, art 28 and recital 46. 
45 These occasional downtimes were ranging between two and ten hours each and were always announced one week in 
advance to all stakeholders. 

18 

 
 
 
  
 
3.6 

Information exchange, programming, and performance measurement  

3.6.1 

Implementation 

In the survey, all but one EURES country mentioned that they are collecting information on their 
labour  market  situation  (including  shortages  and  surpluses).  The  degree  to  which  analysis  is 
performed varies from country to country. The main bodies performing this labour market analysis 
are,  for  example,  national  statistics  bureaus  or  the  statistical  departments  of  the  PES.  The 
collection of the necessary data is often carried out using the templates and formats provided by ECO. 
The information gathered and analysed is then shared in different ways, including by uploading it on 
the EURES portal together with the activity reporting.  

In relation to the information on national activities, NCOs collect and share this using the PMS as well 
as the PC Work Programmes and Activity Reports. This includes, for example, the structure of 
their  governance  model,  the  qualifications  and  number  of  EURES  staff,  as  well  as  their  fields  of 
activity. The information of new Members and Partners is also shared. In addition, several EURES 
countries mentioned that they perform customer satisfaction surveys in order to keep improving their 
services and events.  

3.6.2  Challenges  

Some EURES countries reported issues with data collection and reporting for both the PMS and the 
PC, highlighting the workload linked to these reports. In the case of some of the reporting mechanisms, 
NCOs provided approximate data (e.g., number of contacts, number of actual placements, response 
time) due to data limited availability. However, actions were taken to improve internal IT systems.  

3.7  Recommendations addressed from the previous reporting period 

The Biennial Report for the period 2018-2020 identified some actions46 as priorities for the current 
reporting period. This section provides details on the extent to which these were addressed during the 
period 2020-2022 and briefly outlines the progress made. 

No 1 Re-start of EURES 
In order to kick-start EURES activities after lockdown restrictions were lifted, the NCOs helped to 
raise  awareness  of  EURES  and  its  activities  through  the  ‘#EURESmovingforward’  campaign 
developed by ECO. This campaign was launched in December 2020 and aimed to raise awareness 
around the existence of EURES and its activities.  

No 2 Network enlargement  
As mentioned under Section 3.3.1, all except two EURES countries have done the necessary work to 
establish an admission system for new Members and Partners. Most EURES countries are actively 
looking to enlarge their national EURES network. 

46  The  full  recommendations  can  be  found  in  the  Biennial  Report  2018-2020  (see  https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-
content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52021DC0046). 

19 

 
  
 
The new communication strategy contributed to the efforts to accelerate the expansion of the EURES 
network. In addition, ECO complemented the guide to expand the network in view of assisting NCOs 
in their efforts. 

No 3 Interoperability and IT developments  
At the end of the reporting period in June 2022, 22 EURES countries were connected to the single 
coordinated  channel  and  an  additional  7  EURES  countries  were  in  the  process  of  establishing  the 
necessary connection. (11 in 2020). In other words, 29 EURES countries had either completed the 
process or were working on it47, compared to 23 in the previous reporting period48. 

Efforts  have  been  made  by  most  EURES  countries  to  map  and  to  adopt  ESCO.  The  last  Biennial 
Report  mentioned  that  16  EURES  countries  (excluding  the  UK)  were  compliant  with  the 
implementing  act  under  Article  17  (8)  of  the  EURES  Regulation  and  that  another  five  EURES 
countries were partially compliant. Now, the number of compliant EURES countries has risen to 24. 
As regards the  exchange of CVs and  JVs  via the single coordinated channel,  the numbers of CVs 
exchanged by some EURES countries remain low. 

No 4 Development of EURES services  
As  Section  3.6.1  mentions,  each  of  the  EURES  countries  does  collect  information  on  their  labour 
market situation. Although the level of details and the specific data shared differ for each country, 
more  and  more  countries  are  sharing  such  data  with  increasing  depth,  which  helped  to  leverage 
EURES activities and objectives.  

4 

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE REGULATION BY THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION AND THE EUROPEAN 
COORDINATION OFFICE  

This section provides an overview of the state of play of the application at EU level of the EURES 
Regulation as required by the second subparagraph of Article 33 of the EURES Regulation, applying 
the same colour coding as used in Section 3.  

4.1  Regulation requirements 

Areas of ECO activities 

Status 

Provision of horizontal support activities for the benefit of the EURES network 

Preparation for the application of the EURES Regulation 

Facilitation of networking, mutual learning, and exchange of best practices (Article 8) 

Information and communication activities regarding the EURES network (Article 1 – 8) 

Provision of training programme for the NCOs and EURES Members/Partners (Article 8) 

Support to broadening the network and the admission systems (Article 3 – 7 – 11) 

Programming cycle and exchange of labour market information including joint analysis  

Development and operation of the EURES portal (including helpdesk function) and interoperability platform  

Measuring performance and monitoring progress 

Management and dialogue at EU-level 

4.2 

Implementation 

V 

V 

V 

V  

V 

V 

V 

V 

V 

V 

On  top  of  the  transfer  of  ECO  from  the  Commission  to  ELA  during  the  reporting  period,  ECO 
continued to provide horizontal support to the EURES network, in particular: 

47  It  is  to  be  mentioned  that  2  countries  did  not  report  anything  concerning  their  connection  to  the  single  coordinated 
channel. 
48 11 EURES countries were in the process of establishing the connection to the single coordinated channel and 12 were 
connected by the end of June 2020. 

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•  Providing the necessary implementation guidance to EURES organisations at national level, 

e.g., training, mutual learning events, coordination meetings and working groups.  

•  Supporting networking and learning, including organising mutual learning events on different 
topics and supporting networking and bilateral discussions during the annual workshops on the 
PC. In addition, the EURES extranet was fully renewed in order to improve the availability of 
the dedicated resources and to facilitate more networking between the NCOs.  

•  Delivering training activities to the EURES Members and Partners. Input from the NCOs was 
leveraged to create tailored training on subjects on which they wanted to gain additional insights.  
•  Raising awareness about EURES through information and communication activities and by 
providing communication support to EURES countries. ECO led the communication efforts and 
established a new communication strategy in 2021 to improve EURES’ branding and visibility 
both internally and externally (as recommended by the ex-post evaluation).  

•  Supporting the broadening of the network through mutual learning events, training sessions, 
discussions  in  the  ECG  meetings,  as  well  as  setting  up  a  working  group  on  the  topic  with  a 
mandate to produce a set of guidelines and a toolkit on the admission system, admission process, 
on-boarding of new Members and Partners and on working as an enlarged EURES network. 
Improving the EURES portal through updates aiming to increase its user-friendliness, security, 
and adaptability (addressing a recommendation made in the ex-post evaluation). However, the 
implementation of the automated matching and setting up the necessary technical infrastructure 
is lagging behind. This needs to be set up to allow EURES Members and Partners to directly 
access EURES JVs and CVs through their own platforms.49  

• 

•  Providing  guidance  to  the  EURES  countries  which  transferred  apprenticeships  and 

traineeships offers to the EURES portal. 

4.3  Challenges 

The gradual process of transferring the competences of ECO from the Commission to ELA started 
in parallel with the first lockdown period in March 2020. The lockdown prevented the teams to do the 
transfer as planned. Given that none of the Commission staff members from ECO were transferring to 
ELA, it was key to organise a thorough knowledge transfer. The two teams had planned that ELA staff 
members would “shadow” the team working on ECO at the Commission in-person for several months 
to ensure business continuity and to get acquainted with the tasks, but this was not possible due to the 
COVID-19 restrictions. The teams had to organise the onboarding of ELA online and the additional 
complexity caused by the pandemic situation and the impossibility to gather physically required a large 
amount of time and resources for both the Commission and ELA.50 At the end of the reporting period, 
ELA declared to be comfortable in their ECO functions and that the transfer could be considered as 
successfully completed. 

4.4  Recommendations addressed from the previous reporting period 

The second EURES Biennial Report 2018-2020 highlighted some actions as priorities for ECO. The 
report makes a distinction between actions to be taken by the Commission and ELA, depending on 
where  ECO  was  organisationally  placed.  The  following  recommendations  were  attributed  to  ECO 
within the Commission (before the transition) as part of the previous reporting period: 

49 See EURES reg, and especially Chapter III. 
50 As the development and maintenance of the EURES portal remains under the Commission after ECO moved to ELA, 
continuity was ensured in this regard.  

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No 1 Transfer of ECO to ELA  
As  mentioned  under  the  implementation  section,  the  transfer  of  ECO  to  ELA  was  completed 
successfully during the reporting period, despite the difficulties caused by the pandemic. 
No 2 Support re-start of EURES activities  
In  order  to  kick-start  EURES  activities  after  lockdown  restrictions  were  lifted,  ECO  developed  the 
‘Moving Forward’ campaign. This campaign took place between December 2020 and February 2021 
to raise awareness on the existence of EURES and its activities. The communication campaign was a 
success.  The  #EURESmovingforward  reached  12  million  people  and  over  16 000  users  have 
participated in the EURES quiz “Which European country is right for you?”. Moreover, five new videos 
on EURES were produced and the new Instagram channel of EURES was launched51. 
No 3 Strengthen support to workers most affected by the pandemic  
In addition to the general ‘Moving Forward’ campaign, specific groups of workers were targeted by 
more specific communication efforts. For instance, to help protecting seasonal workers and ease the 
obstacles they faced,  the EURES network participated in  the ‘Rights4AllSeasons’ campaign.  It  was 
launched in partnership with the Commission, the European Platform tackling undeclared work, EU 
countries and social partners. With this campaign, the EURES network helped raise awareness on the 
existing  rights,  obligations  and  counselling  services  that  exist  to  ensure  fair  conditions  for  seasonal 
recruitment.  
No 4 Promote and support the use of the ESF+ for funding of EURES activities 
For the ESF+ 2021-2027 programming period, the Commission and ECO have extensively promoted 
the use of ESF+ for the fundings of EURES activities.   
No 5 Continue developing the reporting tools 
Both  the  Commission  and  ECO  recognise  that  the  reporting  requirements  for  the  NCOs  and  the 
Members and Partners represent a burden for them. However, reporting on EURES activities is a key 
component of the EURES Regulation and was deemed necessary by the legislator. To reduce some of 
this burden, a new IT Tool was rolled out which enable NCOs to fill out their data in  a more user-
friendly way. Further reflections are also ongoing on the topic (e.g. on further harmonising/easing the 
PMS and PC activities). 
No 6 Develop the widespread exchange of apprenticeships and traineeships 
During the reporting period, no specific action was undertaken on this subject as the transfer of ECO 
was  prioritised  and  all  ECO’s  means  were  required  to  ensure  business  continuity.  Therefore,  no 
additional investment could be made in this topic during the period. 
No 7 Further improve the EURES portal 
The Commission and ELA (once ECO was transferred) continued to implement changes to the EURES 
portal to improve its user-friendliness. An IT Steering Committee aiming to facilitate the coordination, 
planning  and  decision-making  process  on  matters  related  to  the  portal  was  also  created  to  agree  on 
future developments of the EURES portal.  

The following recommendations were attributed to European Coordination Office managed by 
European Labour Authority: 

No 1 Complete transfer of ECO 
As  mentioned  under  the  implementation  section,  the  transfer  of  ECO  to  ELA  was  successfully 
completed during the reporting period.  

51 Available at: https://www.instagram.com/euresjobs/. 

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No 2 Support fair mobility 
The  core  objective  of  EURES  activities  is  to  increase  fair  mobility  between  EURES  countries. 
Transferring the operational support function of ECO from the Commission to ELA was one step to 
further strengthen the support offered to the EURES countries, as this makes it easier for ECO to work 
closer with other important support services to the countries and citizens ELA is responsible for. During 
the reporting period, different projects and events organised by NCOs to support fair mobility received 
support by ECO when needed. ECO also contributed and led key communication efforts such as the 
“Moving Forward” campaign and more specific campaigns (e.g., Rights for all seasons).  
No 3 Further strengthen EURES communication 
During this reporting period, strengthening EURES communication was one of the key development 
points. A new communication strategy was developed, and additional funding was made available by 
ELA in order to increase both internal and external awareness of the EURES brand and activities. 
No 4 Allocate sufficient resources for EURES’ operations 
As the transfer of competences to ELA took place gradually, not all activities were already financed 
under ELA’s budget in the early months of 2021. This caused ELA to allocate a relatively lower budget 
to the EURES activities in 2021 compared to 2022. In 2021, ELA invested € 7.5 million in their EURES 
activities, which rose to € 9.9 million in 2022.  

5  CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 

5.1  Conclusions 

In order to achieve the reform of EURES and to ensure fair intra-EU labour mobility, the 2016 EURES 
Regulation set several requirements for the EURES network. Next to these requirements, Article 6 of 
Regulation (EU) 2019/1149 defined that ECO would need to be transferred from the Commission to 
ELA  before  August  2021.  All  these  objectives  were  dealt  with  during  the  COVID-19  pandemic,  a 
period of great uncertainty given the lockdown restrictions which affected among others collaboration 
and cross-border travel. 

The  transfer  of  ECO  from  the  Commission  to  ELA  was  finalised  in  May  2021  after  an  intensive 
collaboration  between  both  instances.  Since  the  completion,  ECO  in  ELA  has  become  the  system 
owner  of  the  EURES  portal,  while  the  Commission  remains  responsible  (from  an  operational 
perspective) for the technical operation and development of the EURES portal and related IT services. 

Some challenges remain to be addressed, notably those related to the expansion of the network and 
welcoming more Members and Partners.  

5.2 Recommendations to EURES countries 

Building on the key findings on the implementation status and remaining challenges identified in this 
report, the main priorities for the next reporting period are summarised as follows: 

No 1 Continue to invest in network enlargement 

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Network enlargement has been a priority for the EURES network since the latest regulation came into 
force. As the growth has been slower than expected (potential Members and Partners are not sufficiently 
attracted) the NCOs should set out clear strategies on what the new composition of the EURES network 
means for their service model and operations, whom to approach and how to ensure that the enlargement 
of the network results in better services for EURES beneficiaries. 
No 2 Clearly define communication channels 
Communication is key for strengthening awareness of the EURES brand. To maximise the impact of 
EURES  communication,  it  is  important  to  know  which  channels  to  focus  on  when  spreading 
information.  The new communication strategy already  tackles this.  In order to  obtain more detailed 
feedback on the effectiveness of the different communication channels, the national surveys being sent 
out to jobseekers and employers could include a question on how they heard about the EURES work 
and services. This would not only help to refine future communication channels, but also help to focus 
the communication based on the targeted audience.  
No 3 Finalise the implementation of ESCO mapping throughout the whole network 
The adoption/mapping of ESCO has made progress over the reporting period. There are, however, some 
EURES countries where the required mapping has not yet been completed. Given the importance of 
this mapping for the automated matching, implementation of this should be a priority in the upcoming 
months. 
No 4 Consolidate the use of the EU Login system 
The EU Login system enhances the security on the EURES portal. Several reminders, accompanied by 
a guideline-video tutorial, were disseminated by ECO in January 2022 to encourage all users to upgrade 
their accounts following the technical implementation of the EU Login on the EURES portal. Therefore, 
all NCOs should continue to encourage their Members and Partners to make use of it, and make the 
tutorial available on the national websites.  
No 5 Ensure the transfer of CVs to the EURES portal 
The EURES Regulation requires all EURES Members and Partners to transfer their publicly available 
job  vacancies  and  CVs  consented  by  workers  to  the  EURES  portal  through  the  single  coordinated 
channel. Whereas job vacancies are being uploaded by the NCOs to the portal, there appears to be less 
progress in the transferring of CVs. Increasing the transfer of CVs from the countries to the EURES 
portal should be a priority.  
No 6 Further develop the widespread exchange of apprenticeships and traineeships 
Activities  linked  to  apprenticeships  and  traineeships  that  are  subject  to  an  employment  relationship 
should be further increased both by activities of EURES advisers and through submission of offers to 
the EURES Portal. 

5.2  Recommendations to European Coordination Office, managed by the European 

Labour Authority  

In the light of the challenges mentioned above, ELA should provide adequate financial and human 
resources to the European Coordination Office for EURES (ECO) in ELA, support the ECO activities 
and  seek  synergies  with  the  other  tasks  of  ELA,  while  fully  respecting  the  independent  EURES 
governance  as  established  by  the  2016  EURES  Regulation.  ECO  in  ELA  should  prioritise  the 
following aspects: 

No 1 Ensuring compliance with the EURES regulation 
Being  in  full  compliance  with  EURES’s  legal  basis  should  remain  a  first  priority  for  ECO  and  this 
should be reflected in all their activities and tasks. Further developments of the portal shall remain in 

24 

 
 
 
 
compliance with the EURES Regulation and APIs shall be developed to enable Members and Partners 
to have a better access to CVs and job vacancies, the support of NCOs in their ESCO mapping, the 
development of a skills-based matching tool and examples of actions for ECO to prioritise in this regard. 
No 2 Work on EURES-Europass synergies  
With the objective of fostering synergies between EURES and Europass for better services to EURES 
beneficiaries, closer links and connections should be tied between the two. Users of the EURES portal 
could benefit from having access to the Europass tool as part of their EURES users’ journey; Europass 
users  should  benefit  from  the  job  opportunities  on  the  portal.  Where  possible,  work  on  additional 
synergies with the Your Europe Portal. 
No 3 Continue supporting the NCOs in their network enlargement efforts 
Network  enlargement  has  been  a  top  priority  for  the  EURES  network  since  its  establishment.  The 
challenges identified in the previous Biennial Report and the ex-post evaluation remain, as NCOs still 
find it difficult to clearly present the added value and major selling points of EURES membership with 
a view to possible admission to the EURES network. ECO should therefore continue supporting the 
NCOs  in  setting  out  a  strategy  on  how  to  approach  possible  new  Members  and  Partners  and  keep 
developing supporting material or mutual learning events on the topic of admission.  
No  4  Reorient  the  report  on  labour  shortages  and  surpluses  and  ensure  that  EURES 
systematically contributes to tackling labour shortages 
Labour  shortages  are  increasingly  at  the  top  of  the  agenda  of  national  and  European  employment 
policies with several organisations reporting regularly on latest trends. ECO should look for synergies 
with reports and initiatives produced or promoted by the Commission and other EU agencies to avoid 
overlaps and contribute with its expertise. The programming of activities, for example in the area of the 
E(O)JDs, could be systematically targeted at tackling labour shortages.   
No 5 Ensure the granularity of the ESCO mapping 
During  the  last  four  years,  significant  steps  have  been  taken  to  ensure  the  implementation  of  the 
transnational ESCO classification. EURES countries do, however, still have difficulties in mapping to 
the right level of detail. As this mapping is being used to automate the matching of CVs and job offers 
on the EURES portal, it is imperative that the mapping contains sufficient differentiation in skills and 
occupations. ECO  together with the Commission  therefore needs to  ensure that  mappings adhere to 
identified quality criteria and that the required level of detail is captured in the data supplied to EURES. 
No 6 Invest in EURES staff training 
ECO should grow its offer of trainings for EURES staff to guarantee their continuous competence and 
further  learning.  The  training  programme  should  be  continuously  monitored  for  quality  purposes, 
evaluated, and developed as the needs of the network and the labour market also continuously change.  
No 7 Continue to support organisation of the European (Online) Job Days 
The  E(O)JDs  were,  even  before  the  COVID-19  pandemic,  already  conducted  online  or  in  a  hybrid 
mode. Considering the success that these Job Days continued to have for the jobseekers and employers, 
ECO is invited to continue to support these events and to further build on their success. ECO should 
target the E(O)JDs on sectors with labour shortages. 
No 8 Further optimise the reporting procedures 
Despite legal limitations, one of the developments that NCOs request most is the integration of the PC 
and the PMS due to the administrative burden they represent for NCOs. Through the development of 
new IT tools, ECO should continue to support NCOs when possible as well as developing new ways to 
ease the reporting.  
No 9 Increase the visibility of the EURES Portal and brand, further explore new communication 
channels, develop targeted KPIs and increase cooperation with the Commission  

25 

 
The communication strategy that ECO developed is helpful in increasing visibility of the network and 
its  activities.  However,  a  longer-term  communication  strategy,  by  means  of  a  multiannual 
communication campaign, may be sought in order to fine-tune coherence and efficiency of promotion 
efforts, but also to reinforce the image of the network over time and increase the visibility of the EURES 
Portal. The campaign could also further explore the benefits of using new social media, especially to 
target  youth.  ECO  should  encourage  identifying  good  KPIs  and  measure  reach  and  engagement  of 
communication/campaigns in line with the official Commission Communication Network indicators. 
As  the  Commission  is  planning  a  larger  multiannual  communication  campaign,  EURES  and  key 
messages about its services could be included in view to increase EURES visibility at European level. 
For instance, this campaign plans to include information on synergies between EURES and Europass. 
In particular, ECO should finalise its contribution to the Commission’s network map of EU outreach 
networks around Europe and EEA52.  
No 10 Consolidate the use of the EU Login system 
The  decrease  in  the  number  of  registered  jobseekers  and  employers  requires  additional  measures  to 
facilitate easier access to the EURES portal. 

5.3  Key takeaways for the Commission  

To address some of the implementation challenges described above, the Commission could follow the 
recommendations below: 

No 1 EURES-Europass synergies 
The Commission should continue to work closely with ECO in order to simplify the user journey for 
EURES portal users and potentially further benefit from the synergies identified with Europass (see 
recommendation No 2 to ECO above).  
No 2 Multiannual communication campaign 
As stated in recommendation No 10 to ECO above, a long-term communication strategy, by means of 
a multiannual communication campaign, may be sought in order to fine-tune coherence and efficiency 
of EURES promotion efforts, but also to reinforce the awareness of the network. In particular, EURES 
should  be  included  in  the  comprehensive  multiannual  communication  campaign  organised  by  the 
Commission  in  order to increase  EURES Network  and the EURES Portal visibility  and promote  its 
services at the European level as proposed by the Commission in its follow-up report to the Conference 
of Europe.53 
No 3 Increase funding and visibility for TMS and CBPs 
TMS  and  CBPs  have  proven  particularly  important  as  they  foster  inclusion  and  free  movement  of 
workers  across  EURES  countries,  on  top  of  addressing  specific  labour  market  needs.  Therefore, 
ensuring future funding for these mobility schemes would allow to continue reaping those benefits and 
potentially to implement more innovative, ambitious, and far-reaching projects that could further help 
workers and employers, in particular by addressing labour shortages and obstacles to cross-border work. 

52 ‘European Union around me’ map. See here: https://european-union.europa.eu/contact-eu/meet-us_en. 
53  COM/2022/404 final, Putting Vision into Concrete Action. 

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