2006 – the European Year of Workers' mobility
continued

Vladimír ·pidla, European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, pinpointed some of the reasons for low EU worker mobility.

'There are still legal, administrative, and linguistic obstacles to worker mobility, coupled with lack of knowledge about available information and assistance, and many workers remain unconvinced about the advantages of working in another country and/or sector. This is what we have to address,' he said.

Of the year's € 6million budget, around €4.3 million will be dedicated to mobility awareness raising projects, to be submitted in a September call for proposals. The rest will be spent on major events, such as next June's Vienna Mobility conference or next September's 'Job Fair Europe' which will see job fairs in around 100 European cities. Several studies on the impact of mobility, as well as attempts to improve statistical data on it, are also planned. A European prize will be awarded to the organisation that has contributed the most to worker mobility.

2006 is also when the 12 EU Member States who applied labour mobility transitional arrangements after the latest enlargement will have the first opportunity to review whether to keep them. Repealing or easing these temporary restrictions on worker movements from the new Member States would significantly help labour mobility. The year's official launch will be made in the presence of European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and several of his Commissioners in February 2006.