On October 15, 1968, the original six founding members of the European Economic Community (EEC) adopted a Regulation on “freedom of movement for workers within the Community”, putting fully into effect Article 48 of the Treaty of Rome (currently Article 45 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU). It did away with all the restrictions that the EEC countries had been allowed to impose during a transition period of 10 years laid down by the Rome Treaty. 

Ever since then, it has been a matter of making all these rights effective by ironing out implementation difficulties, overcoming all sorts of practical obstacles, raising workers’ awareness of their rights and helping national and local civil servants implement EU legislation in this area. 

The EU states that it supports mobility by helping job seekers and employers in Europe find each other, wherever they are. It also seeks to make sure that the EU’s mobile workers are not abused and to help coordinate the fight against undeclared work. 

For more information on fair mobility, please click here.