European Labour Authority ready to start working in October as decision is taken on new seat

Marianne Thyssen and Pierre Moscovici, Members of the EC, on the European Semester Spring 2019 package. European Union, 2019 Source: EC – Audiovisual Service

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Today, just ahead of the meeting of the Council on Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumers in which Ministers are to formally adopt the Regulation establishing the European Labour Authority, Member States decided that Bratislava will host the seat of the European Labour Authority. Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Labour Mobility, Marianne Thyssen, welcomed the decision:

“I congratulate the city of Bratislava and the government of Slovakia for being chosen to host the seat of the European Labour Authority.

From the start of my mandate, I have made fair labour mobility a key priority. Free movement boosts growth, helps businesses find the skills they need and gives everyone the opportunity to make the best use of their talents – but it needs to be well managed. This requires rules that are fair, clear and effectively enforced. The European Labour Authority is the jewel in the crown of this work. It will support labour mobility and give EU Member States the tools they need to cooperate more effectively and fight abuse.

The European Labour Authority regulation has been adopted in record-time and I am confident that the move of the European Labour Authority to Bratislava will be equally smooth and fast. The Authority will start operating from Brussels as of October until it moves to its host city. I look forward to seeing the Authority settle in and starting work from Bratislava as soon as possible.”

Background

President Juncker first announced the idea of a European Labour Authority in his State of the Union address in September 2017. The Commission presented its proposal for establishing a Labour Authority in March 2018, and in February 2019, the European Parliament and the Council reached a provisional agreement. After the European Parliament, today also the Council formally adopted the Regulation establishing the European Labour Authority, which will enter into force in the coming days after its signature and publication. This new Authority will ensure that Union rules on labour mobility are enforced in a fair, simple and effective way. Following today’s final adoption of the founding Regulation, it will be up and running in 2019 and will operate at full capacity by 2024. On 16 October 2019, the selection of the Management Board and the work programme of the European Labour Authority will be presented.

The selection of the seat of the Authority was made by common accord of the representatives of the governments of the Member States, following a procedure and criteria endorsed by Member States themselves. Under this procedure, the interested Member States were required to submit an offer to host the Authority by 6 May 2019, indicating in detail how the criteria are addressed and specifying the offered conditions.