European Labour Authority established

The tasks of the European Labour Authority (»ELA«) will be providing information to individuals and employers on job opportunities, mobility and training, as well as informing them on their rights and obligations under the European Law in matters regarding labour. It will also assist Member States in the implementation of the relevant European legislation, including by participating in the execution of labour inspection and tackling undeclared labour. In addition, it will act as a mediator in the event of cross-border disputes between national authorities.

The provisional agreement must now receive confirmation by the Committee of Permanent Representatives (Coreper) and will be subject to a vote in the European Parliament; once the agreement is confirmed, ELA shall become operational before the end of the year 2019 and is projected to be fully operational by 2023. The annual budget of ELA will amount to an estimated 50 million euros and the authority will employ around 140 staff members. It will be steered by a Management Board with representatives from each Member State and the European Commission.

While the cooperation between the national labour authorities of the Member States has already been put in place, ELA could make this process substantially easier. For example, through ELA the Labour Inspectorate of the Republic of Slovenia (»IRSD«) will have possibility to obtain information on posted workers from inspectorates in other Member States and vice versa. In the event of a dispute regarding the relevance of the data, ELA could act as a mediator. Furthermore, it could help with the coordination of the enforcement of fines in cases when a decision of a different Member State needs to be served to a Slovenian national and the fine recovered (under the Transnational Provision of Services Act, this is within the remit of the IRSD and the Financial Administration of the Republic of Slovenia).

The specific tasks of ELA which could especially benefit individuals and companies, will be, among others, the management of the European job mobility portal (EURES) and cooperation with Member States in ensuring the accessibility of information regarding the national labour legislation, such as collective agreements.