Call for good practices 2024

1. Overview

1.1. ELA Good Practice collection and dissemination

The European Labour Authority (ELA) is proud to announce the launch of the 3^rd edition of the Call for Good Practices as part of the good practice collection exercise with the aim to collect good practice examples in various areas under ELA’s mandate in order to promote the exchange, dissemination and uptake of good practices and knowledge collected among Member States. ELA also collects good practices within the Undeclared Work framework.

The Call for Good Practices is focusing on topics related to EU labour mobility, establishing specific annual priorities reflecting ELA’s sectoral or cross-sectoral focal points searching for good practices addressing labour market imbalances, sector-specific challenges linked to campaigns launched by the Authority, and recurring challenges in relation to enforcement (e.g. in the area of posting, road transport, seasonal work, construction, undeclared work, social security coordination, new forms of employment, digitalisation, provision of information, etc.).

The good practices collected will be listed in the ELA good practice library which will be made available on ELA’s website in 2024, while the selected exemplary practices will have the opportunity to be presented and receive a certificate of recognition during an ELA event.

1.2. What is a good practice?

For the purposes of this Call, a ‘good practice’ is considered to be a policy or operational measure (for example tools, campaigns, procedures etc.) targeting a clearly identified group, which has a clear objective, is highly visible and accessible for the target group, is backed by sustainable funding, and produces the intended results or at least better results than existing alternatives by using delivery mechanisms tailored to the intended target group and objectives. The measure can be a stand-alone instrument, or a set of measures, but should in any case be embedded into the wider policy framework.

Other elements of good practices may, inter alia, include the following principles:

• Inclusivity
• Involves a set of different stakeholders
• Replicability
• Be evidence based.

2. Priorities for 2024

The Call for Good Practices 2024 has the following priorities:

• Digitalisation in Social Security Coordination¹, including:

a) Implementation of the system for exchange of social security information (EESSI)

The EESSI system is interconnecting social security institutions throughout Europe and provides for a fast, efficient, secure and reliable way of exchanging data necessary for implementing the EU Regulations on the coordination of social security², including the determination of entitlement to social benefits by migrant European citizens. While the system is soon reaching its full production in all Member States, the quality of its deployment and the level of its integration with the national domain varies significantly. The degree of digital maturity of EESSI implementation in Member States and their institutions has a direct impact on the timeliness, efficiency and user-friendliness of processing of cases and thus on the granting of benefits and protection of social security rights.

The collection of good practices in this field is aimed at the exchange of insights, strategies and innovations adopted in the Member States that will benefit other Member States in enhancing their national EESSI solutions and, where relevant, in finalising their implementation. The scope is not limited to technical solutions but also includes any business, implementation or training strategies in a broad sense which have proven to be of added value in the context of the EESSI deployment and management at a national level.

b) Digital cross-border services at Member States level

In addition to the EESSI system, Member States have independently developed a range of digital solutions that enhance the interaction of EU mobile citizens with local authorities within the social security coordination and labour mobility. These solutions exhibit a cross-border dimension, offering online tools and portals that enable for instance remote requests for various Portable Documents, submission of claims for social security benefits and reporting changes in relevant circumstances for individuals residing or staying abroad, speedier determination of applicable legislation and even providing life certification in a digital format. Furthermore, electronic tools outside the EESSI framework facilitate communication between social security authorities of Member States, like the exchange of bulk batch files for data matching, direct access to national registers of insurance history, and verification of the validity of portable documents. Solutions have also been introduced for fraud detection (e.g. through data mining).

While these digital solutions are not coordinated at EU level, they significantly contribute to enhancing the user-friendly experience for EU mobile citizens. By reducing administrative burdens and expediting the processing of claims by competent institutions, these tools streamline cross-border interactions. However, the implementation of these digital solutions has resulted in significant variations between Member States in terms of availability, accessibility, scope, and quality.

This diversity presents an opportunity for EU countries to leverage the innovations and good practices achieved at the national level, as these solutions often have great potential for replication in other Member States. Fostering collaboration and knowledge exchange contributes to a more efficient digital ecosystem for social security coordination across the European Union.

•  Information provision in Road Transport

Promoting the social aspects of Mobility Package I

As part of Mobility Package I, a new set of rules for the road transport sector became applicable across the EU. The package is essential to ensure good implementation and enforcement of the road transport legislation, providing a balance between the working conditions and social protection of drivers and the freedom of operators to provide cross-border transport services.

A special focus within the Mobility Package I is placed on the social aspects for drivers. Directive (EU) 2020/1057 provides a framework for reliable working conditions of posted drivers in the Member States, and Regulation (EU) 2020/1054 sets out rules for driving and resting times.

The collection of good practices in this area will focus on how Member States, social partners and other stakeholders support information provision to drivers about their rights and obligations when being posted within the definition of Directive (EU) 2020/1057. Examples of information provision geared towards drivers and operators include among others: implementation of information material, virtual or live campaigns to reach target groups on the ground, consultation services, information events, or use of new technology and social media.

Apart from the above-stated priorities, you can submit your good practices on other topics related to EU labour mobility, for instance on topics covered by previous ELA calls for good practices. These have addressed, amongst others, information provision to workers and employers in seasonal work and the construction sector with regard to rights and obligations on labour mobility or measures initiated by Member State authorities or social partners to tackle labour and skills shortages.

3 How to participate

3.1. Who can apply?

The ongoing Call for Good Practices is open to Member State administrations, but also to other stakeholders operating at the national, regional or local level, including social security institutions, civil society and social partner organisations.

3.2. How to submit a good practice?

You can submit your application containing a good practice example by following these steps and guidelines: - Fill in the short application form available here: https://ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/runner/ELACallGP2024 (in English);

- Applicants may submit more than one proposal (by filling out the short application form for each good practice proposal)

- In case more details are required on the submitted good practice, you will be contacted using the contact information provided in the application form.

Should you have any questions, please contact: capacity@ela.europa.eu

3.3. What is the deadline for submitting good practices?

The Call for Good Practices is a recurring one and good practice examples may be submitted annually, but with a specified deadline for submitting good practices in accordance with priorities set up for specific year.

Deadline for submitting applications for the Call for Good Practices 2024 is on 7 June 2024.

3.4. What are the benefits of participation?

• The benefits of participation are:
• The European recognition of performance and achievements;
• An opportunity to present the good practice during an ELA event;
• Visibility of practices on the ELA website;
• Contribute to good practice exchange among Member States, and their potential uptake by other Member States;
• Contribute to the effective application and enforcement of EU labour mobility law, and social security coordination within the EU.

4. Selection of exemplary practices

Among the good practices received, ELA will select several exemplary practices. Exemplary practices will be selected against the following criteria by the ELA Evaluation group:

• Achievements and outcomes
  Results and outcomes of the good practice. Alignment of good practice with the priorities of the Call (if not applicable, alignment with the field of EU labour mobility).
• Cost effectiveness
  The degree to which the practice was successful in reaching objectives and producing clear and measurable outcomes at the lowest possible cost.
• Transferability
  How the experience from this practice could be transferred to other contexts i.e. what would another Member State/group/sector need to have or put in place for this measure to be successful in their country/group/sector.
• Sustainability
  How the practice is sustainable from a social, financial or environmental perspective.
• Innovativeness
  Innovative features of the good practice.
• Digitalisation
  Design, development and/or utilisation of digital tools, policies or plans for digitalisation, business processes and data digitalisation, data sharing digital initiatives, the use of digitalisation to facilitate the access to data in real time and detection of fraud and error, etc.

5. Personal data protection

Any personal data included in or relating to this Call, including its publication shall be processed by the European Labour Authority pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European

Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2018 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies and on the free movement of such data.

It shall be processed solely for the purposes of the performance, management and monitoring of this Call by the European Labour Authority without prejudice to possible transmission to the bodies charged with a monitoring or inspection task in conformity with Union law.

The data subject shall have the right of access to her/his personal data and the right to rectify any such data. Should the data subject have any queries concerning the processing of her/his personal data, the data subject shall address them to the Unit organising this Call (Cooperation Support Unit, Capacity Building Sector). The data subject shall have right of recourse at any time to the European Data Protection Supervisor.

ELA Data Protection Officer (DPO) publishes the register of all processing operations on personal data by ELA, which have been documented and notified to her. You may access the register via the following link: https://www.ela.europa.eu/en/privacy-policy

This specific processing operation has been included in the DPO’s public register with the following Record reference: DPR-ELA-2022-0041 Call for Good Practices Privacy statement.

[1] In line with the Commission Communication on ‘Digitalisation in social security coordination: facilitating free movement in the Single Market’, COM (2023)501, 6.9.2023

[2] Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 and Regulation (EC) No 987/2009