Freedom of movement for people within the EU is one of the four fundamental freedoms on which the Union is built. But fair and efficient labour mobility depends on workers having the same rights in all Member States. Workers and their families should have access to social protection and unemployment benefits, healthcare, education, pensions, and to be covered by local trade union collective agreements on pay and working conditions.

Over 11.3 million people of working age live in a different EU country to the one where they have citizenship. Furthermore, some 1.3 million ‘frontier workers’ travel across EU borders to their place of work. The European Commission’s so-called ‘Mobility Package’ published in December 2016 failed to deal comprehensively with the many problems faced by mobile workers, and the ETUC continues to campaign for the rights of mobile workers and their families.