Labour market and cross-border obstacles
The Öresund Committee works to promote mobility and safeguard the rights of citizens and businesses seeking work and personnel on “the other side” of the Öresund Sound. Residents of Skåne and Zealand should not run the risk of finding themselves unprotected by the system if they take work in Denmark or Sweden respectively. To this end, the Öresund Committee has striven to make those involved aware of the opportunities inherent in the regional cross-border labour market, but also of the obstacles to mobility that exist. So, what have we achieved so far?
Two countries – one labour market
The Öresund Committee has investigated the obstacles to cross-border labour market mobility that are related to unemployment benefits, pensions, social security cover, illness and taxes. At a meeting of the Öresund Forum (Öresundstinget) held on 10 May 2007 to coincide with the state visit to Denmark of the Swedish royal family, the Danish and Swedish ministers for employment, Claus Hjort Frederiksen and Sven Otto Littorin, signed a joint declaration entitled “Two Countries – One Labour Market”. One of the results of this was the creation of an inter-ministerial Danish-Swedish working party to propose solutions to the list of obstacles that the Öresund Committee had compiled with the aid of its members, ÖresundDirekt, authorities, trade and industry, trade unions and individuals in the region.
One step closer towards an obstacle-free Öresund Region
In December 2007 a further step was taken towards establishing a common labour market in the Öresund Region when the two governments met to present the preliminary results of their joint efforts to eliminate cross-border obstacles to labour market integration.
Recent years have seen lobbying organisations intensify the pressure on the Danish and Swedish governments to eradicate obstacles and barriers to the free movement of labour in the Öresund Region.
Ongoing efforts
The Öresund Committee is committed to following up the results of the working party and to monitoring progress in the Nordic Council of Ministers, which has set up its own Freedom of Movement Forum to remove barriers to free movement between the Nordic countries. Sweden’s representative on the forum is Pia Kinhult of Region Skåne, who is a member of the Öresund Committee. The committee is also in the process of investigating the possibility of enabling citizens of a third country who are resident in Sweden to acquire a work permit in Denmark.
The Öresund Committee is committed to following up the results of the working party and to monitoring progress in the Nordic Council of Ministers, which has set up its own Freedom of Movement Forum to remove barriers to free movement between the Nordic countries. Sweden’s representative on the forum is Pia Kinhult of Region Skåne, who is a member of the Öresund Committee. The committee is also in the process of investigating the possibility of enabling citizens of a third country who are resident in Sweden to acquire a work permit in Denmark.
Welcome to the conference in Bryssels 23rd of October 2009!
The Conference is arranged by The Öresund Committee and The Committee of the Regions.
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