Published: 02.03.2020.
Updated: 08.07.2025.
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EURES – Job Mobility in Europe

EURES is a cooperation network that makes it easier for workers to exercise their right to free movement across Europe. It connects all 27 EU countries plus Switzerland, Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway, ensuring that both jobseekers and employers can benefit from opportunities across borders.

The free movement of workers is one of the European Union’s core principles. As an EU citizen, you have the right to move to any of these countries to look for work and take up employment.

EURES exists to help you make that move a success.

Through the EURES portal and a network of more than 1,000 advisers, EURES provides a wide range of services for jobseekers and employers alike.

EURES services include:

  • Matching job vacancies and CVs through the EURES portal
  • Providing information, guidance, and personalised support for workers and employers
  • Giving access to up-to-date details about living and working conditions in each country (taxation, pensions, health insurance, social security)
  • Offering special support for cross-border workers and employers in frontier regions
  • Running the EURES Targeted Mobility Scheme, which supports specific groups to move and work abroad
  • Organising dynamic recruitment events via the European (Online) Job Days platform
  • Providing post-recruitment assistance, including language training and help with integration in the destination country
  • European Coordination Office (ECO): Coordinated at European level by the ECO within the European Labour Authority (ELA). The ECO manages the EURES portal and the European (Online) Job Days platform.
  • National Coordination Offices (NCOs): Each country has a National Coordination Office responsible for managing the national network of EURES Members and Partners.
  • EURES Members and Partners: These are the organisations that deliver EURES services directly to jobseekers and employers.

EURES was established in 1994 as a network connecting the Public Employment Services of EU/EEA countries. Over time, the network has expanded to include trade unions, employers’ organisations, and other partners, especially in regions with high cross-border commuting.

The EURES Regulation (EU) 2016/589 strengthened and broadened the network, aiming to improve the functioning of the European labour market and support even more workers and employers.

Any organisation that provides employment services can apply to join EURES, provided it meets the common criteria set out in the Regulation and any additional national requirements.

To become a EURES Member, an organisation must offer all three core services:

  1. Contribute job vacancies to the EURES portal
  2. Share job applications and CVs with the EURES portal
  3. Provide direct support services to jobseekers and employers (information, guidance, post-recruitment support)

A EURES Partner can deliver at least one of these services and must demonstrate why it cannot provide them all (e.g., due to size, limited resources, or the nature of its activities).

All EURES Members and Partners must meet certain minimum criteria listed in the EURES Regulation in terms of service delivery (e.g. compliance with labour standards and laws, capacity to offer services, free of charge services to workers) and participation in the EURES network (e.g. delivery of data according to standards and formats, programming and reporting, allocation and training of staff).

Interested in joining?

For more information about becoming a EURES Member or Partner, please contact National Coordination Office.