The Management Board of the European Labour Authority (ELA) determines the strategic direction, sets the work programme and budget, and decides which working groups and expert panels will get to work. The Board meets several times a year and each EU country has one member on the Board. For the Netherlands, this is the Inspector General of the Labour Inspectorate.
Since 2021, this position has been held by Rits de Boer. He has now been elected as chair. Rits emphasises the importance of the ELA for the Netherlands: 'Given its open economy and large population of migrant workers, the Netherlands has a strong interest in effective cooperation with services in other countries in order to combat abuse and ensure a level playing field. This concerns not only the Central European countries, but also Spain and neighbouring countries Belgium and Germany, for example.'
The ELA was established in 2019. The proposal for this came from the then Committee Chair, Jean Claude-Juncker. In the 2017 State of the Union, Juncker said: 'It is absurd to have a Banking Authority to police banking standards, but no common Labour Authority for ensuring fairness in our single market.' The European Parliament and the Council of Ministers approved its establishment in 2019. Since 2021, the ELA has been based in Bratislava. It is the first European institution in Slovakia.
Joint actions
Since 2021, the ELA has grown into an organisation with approximately 150 employees. A unique feature is the large number of national experts working there who have been seconded by the Member States. Every year, the ELA coordinates and organises more than 100 concerted and joint inspections, these actions being overseen by services from several Member States. The ELA also provides training and education for employees of inspection bodies, benefit agencies and labour market specialists from the Member States. EURES, the portal for finding work and employees in another EU country, is also part of the ELA. In addition, the ELA provides proactive information services to migrant workers and facilitates data exchange between Member States. As the labour market is European, abuse, bogus arrangements and fraud are also often cross-border in nature.
Posting of third-country nationals
The daily management of the ELA is in the hands of director Cosmin Boiangiu and 4 department heads. The ELA was evaluated last year. Executive Vice-President Roxana Minzatu of the European Commission is expected to launch an EU legislative initiative in 2026. This so-called 'fair labour mobility package' is also expected to include a proposal to strengthen the ELA mandate. Successive Dutch Ministers of Social Affairs and Employment and the Directorate for International Affairs have worked hard to achieve this. The aim is for the ELA to also be able to target illegal arrangements involving the posting of third-country nationals.