Cross-border employment: on paper it seems settled, but in practice it is difficult
In spite of the negotiations about a Europe without borders held 25 years ago in Maastricht, there appear to be many obstacles to cross-border cooperation. Free movement of people, goods, services and capital are hampered by the way EU member states have implemented EU law, by the quality of national law and by its application in practice. This results from the 2016 cross-border impact assessment conducted by the Institute for Transnational and Euregional cross border cooperation and mobility / ITEM, that was presented at the yearly ITEM conference on the 28th of October.
In 2016, ITEM investigated primarily national topics that were the subject of much discussion along the Dutch border, such as the new tax treaty between the Netherlands and Germany or the national application of recognition of professional qualifications. As a result, much of the cross-border impact assessment 2016 pertains to legislation that has just come into effect, but the effects of which cannot yet be easily quantified. The new Tax treaty between Germany and the Netherlands is one of these, and accordingly its impact on the pensions of former mobile workers (including frontier workers) is not yet readily accessible.
Interestingly, ITEM research shows that legal bottlenecks are not at the root of the obstacles related to all issues. From the analysis of the recognition of professional qualifications, it appears that a number of practical matters can be a source of obstacles. The studied countries/federal states do not always provide the most advantageous solution for the cross-border worker. The fact that some authorities only accept documents in one language is an example of this, as well as the complexity that can exist in identifying the right competent authority and the uncertainty surrounding the amount of procedural costs. Multilingual documents and a more streamlined provision of information could contribute to a more flexible process for the recognition of professional qualifications.
ITEM’s cross border impact assessment will be carried out on a yearly basis with the purpose of both revealing the effects for border regions and providing a scientific contribution to cross border mobility and cooperation.
For more information on the outcome of ITEM's 2016 research on the following topics, please download the Cross border impact assessment 2016 via the ITEM website.
- Tax Treaty the Netherlands/Germany. What are possible effects of the new tax treaty between the Netherlands and Germany on frontier workers and former fronties workers, with a focus on labour and pension?
- Recognition of professional qualifications (national application of Directive 2013/55/EU / BE/NL/DE). How does the recognition of certain significant professions work for the frontier labour market and what are the biggest effects on frontier workers (costs, procedures, complexity of the recognition of qualifications)?
- Cross-border cooperation: investigation of Interreg programmes on the Dutch border. What were and are the effects of the new Interreg programme and national programmes on the quality of the programmes (EMR, Netherlands-Germany, Flanders-Netherlands), approval, and closure of projects?
- Social security: illness and disability. What consequences do the Dutch systems governing illness and disability have for the free movement of labour across the border, and can these lead to legal uncertainty?
- The qualifying foreign tax obligation of section 7.8, Income Tax act, adn EU law. What impact does the Dutch 90% scheme have on Dutch frontier workers? Is this scheme in conflict with European law?
- Proposal for directive amending Directive 96/71/EC (COM(2016) 128 def). How good is the proposed revision of the EU posting of workers directive?
- Flexibilisation of the Old-Age Pension Commencement Date Act. Whate are the efffects on the position of workers who have accrued both a Dutch General Old Age Pension and a statutory pension in another country?
- Cross-border employment services: Effects of mandate and capacities of the Dutch UWV. What is the impact of the UWV's current financing and mandate on the implementation of cross-border employment services.
- Cross-border train transport - Fourth Rail Package. What effect can be expected concerning the coordination surrounding the allocation and organization of cross-border interlocal public transport?
- The Belgian Toll system for lorries. Whate are the additional costs for cross-border transport for the logistics sector in Belgium/the Netherlands/Germany? What are the consequences in reference to the routes used by German and Dutch lorries?