A seminar titled “Guaranteeing Social and Labour Rights for Cross-Border Workers in Europe” took place in Badajoz / Spain, from 11 to 13 November 2025. The event was organised by Unión Sindical Obrera – Centro Confederal de Formación y Acción Social in partnership with EZA and funded by the European Union. The seminar addressed an issue that affects some two million workers in the European Union across all EU borders: the phenomenon of cross-border workers. This issue is even more complex when we talk about borders between EU and non-EU countries.
In order to understand the concept, the first step was to define exactly what a cross-border worker is, as opposed to a migrant worker and a transnational worker.
A cross-border worker is a person who lives in one country and works for a company in another country under the conditions of that other country.
In this seminar, we have seen how they should not have any problems, yet they do. The legislation is clear and, within the EU framework, it should not cause any problems for these people: they have exactly the same rights as national workers. The only difference is that when they return home, they change countries.
But in practice, these people encounter many other obstacles. Not purely legal or fiscal ones, but ones related to their way of life.
We have seen this from the perspective of local government, which is closest to citizens but has the least authority when it comes to international agreements.
Thus, the life of a cross-border worker does not end when they finish their working day on the other side and return home. Cross-border workers, along with the entire population living on the border, suffer from a duality in their lives. Their labour rights may be respected, but dual legislation and dual governance are present in all aspects of their lives.
The local administration has given us examples of cooperation with the other side, especially within the framework of Eurobec, the Eurocity comprising Badajoz, Elvas and Campo Maior. There are entrepreneurial, energy and social projects, but sometimes they cannot be implemented due to differences in regulations on either side.
In this regard, we have seen examples of dysfunctionality: a recreational area with one set of navigation laws on one bank and another set on the other; a hospital that is labelled as cross-border but, in reality, has a dual pay scale depending on whether the worker is based and pays contributions in Spain or is French.
The benefits of the multicultural richness of the border regions were also highlighted, for example through Alice Nabeiro's School of Talents, linked to the Delta Cafés Group, which originated in Portugal but is increasingly expanding towards neighbouring Spain.
The more borders there are and the more people living across them, the more cross-border workers there will be and, therefore, the greater the development of agreements.
This is the example we have seen between Belgium and the Netherlands. In this case, thanks in part to the strength of the Belgian trade unions, many improvements have been made and national workers in foreign companies have been given greater protection. These improvements even extend to the ability to represent and negotiate collective agreements in companies in the neighbouring country where there is a high level of recruitment of nationals. This makes it possible to negotiate even taxation and manage benefits.
Individual advice to members, but also general advice to all these workers through leaflets and an app, ensures that workers do not feel unprotected and that their union, or at least a union in their country, is there for them.
In this seminar, we have seen that cross-border work, and even more so with the sudden arrival of teleworking, will be a growing phenomenon that requires solutions.
In each country, the legislation is clear, but this forces workers to abide solely by the laws of the country where they work, with conditions that differ from those of their neighbours and their own cohabitants. Bilateral agreements, the convergence of different national laws, must be the way forward.
To this end, cooperation and joint action by trade unions must be the basis for demanding convergence and legislative changes, including at EU level. The ETUC, through its interregional committees, is already working on this issue on an ad hoc basis. However, we understand that the problems are not isolated, but structural.
Therefore, and since we want these seminars to go beyond simply analysing problems and propose solutions, we propose, and hope for your support, to forward the conclusions to the ETUC and request that a Committee on Transnational Work be created, similar to other permanent committees for studies and legislative proposals.
Among the necessary improvements that this Committee could study and coordinate are:
Improving data: creating consolidated regional and national inventories of cross-border workers coordinated by the EU in order to ascertain the scale of the problem and design policies to address it.
Creation of one-stop shops for information through EURES and public services that standardise taxation, social security, unemployment and administrative procedures.
Fiscal clarity and social security: guidance campaigns and practical bilateral agreements, with the common application of forms and step-by-step guides.
Labour protocols and local agreements that standardise public services in Eurocities, such as healthcare, transport and emergencies.
Cross-border public transport and sustainable mobility that optimises travel and congestion costs.