The European Commission has proposed the Fair Labour Mobility Package to change how cross-border work is documented, checked and enforced in practice. For employers, the package could mean more digital handling and verification of A1 certificates and qualifications, closer cooperation between national authorities, and more targeted cross-border inspections. It may simplify parts of the process, but it also makes consistent information across HR, payroll, mobility, immigration and supplier records increasingly important.
The proposals must now be negotiated and adopted by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union. The package includes both proposed regulations and directives. If adopted, regulations would apply directly, while directives would first need to be transposed into national legislation.
Key initiatives
1. Digital social security verification through ESSPASS
What is changing?
The proposal introduces a European Social Security Pass (ESSPASS). This means that any employee holding an A1 certificate would be able to provide the document immediately through a smartphone or other means if asked to do so. Equally important, the proposal also sets common European standards for the A1 application procedure.
The ESSPASS would go live with the following deadlines:
- A1 certificates: 12 months after the Regulation enters into force.
- European Health Insurance Card and other covered documents: 3 years after the Regulation enters into force.
What this means for employers
- Applications for A1 certificates and European Health Insurance Cards would be submitted electronically. Mandatory paper applications would no longer be permitted.
- The European Commission would be authorized to define mandatory turnaround times for issuing an A1 certificate. The current practice, under which processing times may vary significantly among Member States, would no longer be permitted.
- European Health Insurance Cards must be issued within 24 hours.
- The employee and the employer filing the A1 application must receive an automatic receipt of the completed submission.
- The European Commission would be authorized to define a common set of European information requirements for requesting an A1 certificate. This would limit the existing practice under which each Member State defines its own A1 application form. Such forms are also expected to include all information needed to assess whether the conditions for issuing an A1 certificate are met. For example, when an employee is posted or sent abroad, this could include information about whether the employee is replacing another posted or assigned person.
- The proposed legislation provides that the A1 application may be submitted by the employee and, where applicable, the employer.
- During an A1 inspection, authorized verifiers could electronically check the document’s issuer, integrity, expiration date and revocation status across Member States.
- The proposed rules would apply to EU countries and would also be relevant to the EEA countries, Switzerland and the UK, subject to the applicable legal arrangements.
2. A stronger European Labour Authority
What is changing?
The Commission proposal would strengthen the European Labour Authority’s ability to support Member States in enforcing EU labour mobility and social security coordination rules. The proposal remains subject to negotiation and adoption, and ELA would not become an EU labour inspectorate.
- ELA would have stronger risk-analysis tools to help national authorities target cross-border inspections more effectively.
- It could propose concerted or joint inspections, but Member States would continue to decide whether to participate.
- A simpler mediation procedure would support faster resolution of cross-border disputes between national authorities.
- ELA’s supporting role would extend to specified employment and social security rights of certain third-country nationals and cases involving undeclared or illegal work and labour exploitation.
What this means for employers
- The proposal would not itself impose new legal obligations or reporting requirements directly on employers.
- Better-targeted risk analysis and more coordinated inspections could make inconsistencies across workforce, posting, social security and related records more visible.
- Employers may need stronger governance and consistent information across HR, payroll, mobility, legal, procurement, compliance and immigration functions.
- Temporary-work arrangements, multiple employing entities, subcontracting chains and arrangements involving certain third-country nationals may merit particular attention.
3. Skills portability and cross-border recruitment
What is changing?
Three linked Commission proposals create a framework to make qualifications easier to present, compare and recognise across EU borders.
- A new EU digital standard will allow qualifications to be issued as digital attestations into the EU Digital Identity (EUDI) Wallet, legally recognised as proof of a qualification in any EU country and provided free of charge to the holder. Employers will be able to verify that an attestation is genuine and still valid, and to compare qualifications across Member States using an enhanced Europass tool.
- For regulated professions, a revised Directive introduces a single EU-wide digital entry point for recognition applications, with binding deadlines (11 weeks, or 5 weeks for automatic recognition), no translation requirements, and no certified copies. Automatic recognition is being extended to more professions, starting with physiotherapists. Final decisions remain with national authorities.
- A new Directive on non-EU nationals sets out clear recognition rules where a regulated profession is involved or where recognition forms part of a visa or residence permit application, with a single integrated procedure to avoid duplication across immigration and recognition processes.
- The proposals do not create equivalence between qualifications or new rights of admission, residence or employment. The non-EU nationals Directive does not apply in Denmark.
What this means for employers
- Digital attestations make it quicker and cheaper to verify foreign qualifications and understand what they mean in practice.
- Binding deadlines and reduced paperwork lower the administrative burden of cross-border recruitment into regulated roles.
- A digital attestation is not the same as professional recognition — employers must still confirm that a worker holds the relevant national licence to practise.
- Language requirements can only be checked after recognition and must be proportionate to the role.
- Hiring across borders — especially for regulated roles or non-EU nationals — will require coordination across HR, legal, immigration and professional-registration teams.
What employers should do now
The proposed legislation forms part of a wider set of EU initiatives affecting cross-border work. Employers should monitor these measures together and align their implementation plans as the different proposals are presented, negotiated, adopted and enter into force over the coming years.
Some actions could be:
- Establish a controlled cross-border workforce overview. Record assignments, business travel, remote work, postings and cross-border recruitment, with the employing entity, host country, dates, work location and responsible owner.
- Run a sample data check. Compare HR, payroll, travel, A1, posting, immigration and supplier records for selected workers and correct mismatches in names, dates, locations, employment status and employing entity.
- Create an inspection-readiness file. Define who responds, who approves disclosures and where supporting documents are stored for each employing entity, temporary-work arrangement and key subcontractor.
- Test digital-verification workflows. Decide who will request, receive, verify, store and renew A1 certificates and qualification attestations, and record any system or access gaps.
- Add a recruitment gateway. Before a start date is confirmed, check whether the role is regulated and identify the qualification, professional recognition, licence, language and immigration steps, with an owner and deadline for each.
- Assign legislative monitoring. Nominate one owner to track adoption, national implementation and effective dates, and convert confirmed changes into updates to policies, systems and training.
