Labour Mobility and Esspass

What ETUC says about ESSPASS

The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) has these comments to the proposal for a regulation.

The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) welcomes the announcement of a European Social Security Pass (ESSPASS) as part of the forthcoming Fair Labour Mobility Package. ESSPASS has the potential to bring added value as an instrument to improve cross-border protection and enforcement of workers rights.

Social security coordination is a cornerstone of fair mobility, and digitalisation can significantly enhance transparency, accessibility and cooperation between authorities. In this context, ETUC also welcomes that the ongoing revision of the Social Security Coordination Regulations remains a prioritised file.

Together with the European Parliament, Member States and social partner organisations, ETUC is convinced that momentum remains to reach a full agreement that can help combat fraud and error while safeguarding fair labour mobility.

A digital ESSPASS will be a key component of this modernised framework. However, digitalisation must not become an excuse for introducing exceptions or reducing reporting obligations. As ETUC has previously underlined in relation to the e-Declaration on Posting, reporting obligations are a prerequisite for effective enforcement.

The more sophisticated the systems become, the easier it should be to report, collect and exchange data. National authorities and inspectorates rely on accurate and timely information, and they must be equipped with the necessary tools to use their limited resources in the most efficient way to allow cross-referencing and exchange of data to enable risk assessments, remote checks and better targeted inspections.

Digitalisation must deliver in the interest of everyone: it cannot simplify procedures for business in a way that risks undermining workers rights or weakening oversight. Instead, it must empower workers to understand and claim their rights and help enforcers navigate increasingly complex cross-border situations.

In this spirit, the ESSPASS should allow for reliable and real-time verification of employment and insurance status, contributions, authenticity and validity of documents required under EU law for EU and third-country nationals covered by EU social security coordination rules.

It should ensure a smooth integration with national systems, including those using sectoral social ID cards developed by social partners. Interoperability with systems such as EESSI, IMI, ERRU, posting declarations and relevant national databases are key to carrying out risk assessments, checking compliance and ensuring that what is declared also corresponds to reality.

ESSPASS should improve the ability of inspectorates to challenge portable documents in cases of bogus posting, false self-employment and letterbox companies. Also workers must be able to verify their data and access social-security procedures remotely. The use of ESSPASS data must be strictly limited to labour and social security purposes, ensure full protection of data privacy, and not extend to migration control. When implemented according to these principles, ESSPASS can become a genuine digital enforcement tool that strengthens social security rights and contributes to fair mobility in the EU.

For more details on social security coordination, digital enforcement tools and fair labour mobility, please see our ETUC Resolution on Fair Labour Mobility and Migration: https://www.etuc.org/en/document/etuc-resolution-fair-labour-mobility-and-migration.

Source: https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/15912-Fair-labour-mobility-package-European-social-security-pass_en.