The European Social Security Pass could make it easier for people to prove their social security rights when living or working in another EU country. The European Commission presented the digital system on 15 September as part of a wider package intended to remove administrative barriers to labour mobility while strengthening the enforcement of workers’ rights across the European Union.
The proposal is part of the Commission’s new Fair Labour Mobility package, which includes five legislative proposals covering social security documents, professional qualifications and the powers of the European Labour Authority.
For workers, the changes could make moving between EU countries less dependent on paper documents and lengthy exchanges between national administrations. For the EU, the package is also another attempt to give the social dimension of the single market a more practical cross-border structure.
How the European Social Security Pass would work
The proposed European Social Security Pass, known as ESSPASS, would allow people to request, receive, store and present social security documents digitally.
The documents would be accessible through the EU Digital Identity Wallet, allowing workers to carry proof of their social security coverage on their phone and enabling authorised authorities to verify its validity electronically.
The first document to be integrated would be the Portable Document A1, commonly known as the A1 certificate. It is particularly relevant for posted workers because it confirms which country’s social security legislation applies while they temporarily work in another EU country.
Under the Commission’s timetable, the A1 document would become available through ESSPASS one year after the regulation enters into force. The European Health Insurance Card and other social security documents would follow within three years.
The Commission says the system would eventually cover documentation relating to areas including sickness, unemployment, workplace accidents and pensions. Paper versions would remain available for people who prefer them.
The proposal builds on pilot projects carried out between 2021 and 2025, which tested the electronic issuance and verification of A1 certificates and European Health Insurance Cards.
Fewer barriers for qualifications across the EU
The package also addresses another obstacle faced by people moving between EU countries: the recognition of professional qualifications.
The Commission proposes standardised digital qualifications that could also be stored in the EU Digital Identity Wallet, alongside a European tool allowing employers and workers to compare qualifications issued in different member states.
For regulated professions such as doctors, nurses, engineers and teachers, the Commission wants to introduce a mandatory digital recognition procedure. According to its estimates, this could reduce the standard recognition process from around three months to five weeks, while retaining national requirements concerning professional and public safety standards.
The package would also establish common standards for qualifications obtained outside the EU. The Commission says procedures that currently take an average of 14 months could be reduced to around four months.
“This package will fundamentally change the single market for the better. Companies should be able to recruit the staff they need with less paperwork and fewer delays,” European Commission Executive Vice-President for Social Rights and Skills Roxana Mînzatu said when presenting the proposals.
A stronger European Labour Authority
A third part of the package concerns the European Labour Authority (ELA), the EU agency created to support cooperation between national authorities on cross-border employment.
Under the proposed regulation, ELA would receive stronger tools to help national labour inspectorates identify risks and coordinate inspections. Dedicated national inspection liaison officers would support cross-border cooperation.
Its mandate would also be expanded to cover abuses involving third-country nationals working in the EU and illegal employment. The Commission also wants to simplify ELA’s mediation procedures when national authorities disagree over the application of cross-border labour rules.
These measures are intended to complement the digitalisation of social security documents. Easier mobility, in the Commission’s approach, would be accompanied by stronger mechanisms for ensuring that employers and workers comply with the rules of the countries involved.
A more European dimension for social rights
The initiative does not create a single European welfare system. Social security contributions, benefits and most welfare policies would continue to be determined primarily at national level.
The Commission explicitly says that ESSPASS is intended to simplify the coordination of social security systems rather than change the substantive scope of existing social security rights.
Its significance is therefore mainly in making national social rights more portable within the EU. The single market has long made it possible for citizens to work across borders, but exercising social security and professional rights can still involve different administrations, documents and recognition procedures.
Around 14 million EU citizens were living in another EU country in 2024, including more than 10 million people of working age, according to figures cited by the Commission. Another 3.64 million people work temporarily in another EU country as posted workers.
Making social security documentation usable across borders through a common digital infrastructure could narrow part of the gap between the economic freedom to work elsewhere in the EU and the practical ability to carry social protections with it.
The package now requires approval from the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union. If adopted, its different components would enter into force gradually, meaning the European Social Security Pass would become a practical tool only after the legislative process has been completed.
The proposal nevertheless points towards a model in which European integration in social policy develops not necessarily through a single welfare system, but through increasingly common infrastructure that allows existing rights to follow people more easily across national borders.
