The Council adopted the conclusions emphasising that labour mobility and the free movement of workers contribute to addressing the needs of labour markets and increase the competitiveness of the European Union, essential elements of the European Employment Strategy to which all Member States have subscribed.

The Counicl supports the Commissions initiatives aimed at promoting professional and geographical mobility in Europe, such as: 

  • European Job Days and the European Job Mobility Partnership;
  • the European CV Europass
  • the European Qualification Framework;
  • the EURES system and network.
  • the European Labour Market Monitor;
  • initiatives increasing the mobility of young people undergoing work-related training, in particular for apprentices under the Leonardo da Vinci programme;
  • the Commission's plan to establish a regular systematic assessment of long-term supply and demand in EU labour markets up to 2020, broken down by sectors, occupations, levels of qualification and countries, bearing in mind the responsibility of the Member States for controlling the access of workers from non-EU countries to their labour markets;
  •  the creation of a standard multilingual dictionary of occupations and skills, to enhance the quality and transparency of vacancy information and to improve matching between job seekers and vacancies;

Reference: Council Conclusions on the professional and geographical mobility of the workforce and the free movement of workers within the European Union. 2930th Employment, Social Policy, Healtlh and Consumer Affairs  Council meeting Brussels, 9 March 2009