European Year of Workers’ Mobility website launch, February 2006

2006 is the European Year of Workers’ Mobility and to promote it a new website has been launched at {http://europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/workersmobility2006/index_en.htm} with quick access available via the icon on the Europa’s home page. Only 2% of Europeans live in an EU country other than their native one. The new site is designed to encourage people to become more mobile by highlighting the benefits of working in other countries and by offering support and information to enable people to take up opportunities offered by the legislative framework which entitles EU citizens to live and work across the EU member states.

As well as facts and figures, interviews, news and newsletters, examples of people who live and work outside their home country, and details of events, the site brings together full and clear explanations of what free movement means in practice and provides answers to many of the more common questions that people have when they consider moving to another country – about their rights, pensions, family’s position and so on - together with the relevant legislation and other key documents. Links to other key resources, for example on immigration, social security and recognition of diplomas are also included. The key link is to the new EURES job vacancy website at {http://europa.eu.int/eures/home.jsp?lang=en} which for the launch of the 2006 European Year of Worker’s Mobility offered one million vacancies online across 28 countries.

EURES is updated automatically from national member states’ employment offices. In the UK this means that the vacancies transfer from the JobCentePlus websites. Through the EURES website it is possible to contact all 800 of the EURES employment advisors across Europe, who can advise on, for example, transfer of benefits and recognition of qualifications and the site carries a wealth of useful information about living and working in another country. Though the vacancies database can be searched and it is normally possible to select categories of jobs as well as search by keyword, at the moment it is suffering from technical problems so the service is currently, at the time of writing, not available.

Another area of the website allows job seekers to submit their CVs online and registered employers are then able to seek matches for vacant posts. Guidance on creating a CV that will work across other EU countries is available via the Europass link {http://europass.cedefop.eu.int/europass/preview.action?locale_id=1}.

It is to be hoped that the technical issues with the EURES database will be resolved shortly to enable people to find accurate information about opportunities available to them. The aim of the site is laudable but it is important that it delivers in practice what it has set out to do.

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