Useful information

General information

The European Union or the EU is an intergovernmental and supranational union of 25 democratic countries known as member states.

Since its inception with six countries, nineteen further states have joined in successive waves of enlargement:
Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands (founding members),in 1952, then Denmark, Ireland, United Kingdom in 1973, Greece 1981, Portugal, Spain 1986, East Germany reunites with West Germany and becomes part of the European Community in 1990, Austria, Finland, Sweden in 1995, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia in 2004.

Romania and Bulgaria will join the EU on 1 January 2007.Turkey is an official candidate to join the European Union and also Croatia. It hopes to join in 2009.Republic of Macedonia has been given official candidate status as of December 2005 under the name "former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia".
Potential Candidate Countries are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Serbia and Montenegro.
If considered a single unit, the European Union has the largest economy in the world.

Specific information for jobseekers ( about visa and work permit )

For non EU members

Requirements such as visas and work permits will vary depending on the country you are going to. You can check all this information in advance by getting in touch with the embassy/consulate of the country to which you will be travelling.

The following is a checklist of items you should consider before going:

* What are the visa/work authorisation requirements?
* What employment protection measures are in force (unfair dismissals, maternity leave, etc.)?
* What healthcare facilities are available to me?
* Am I required to have any vaccinations before I can travel?
* What accommodation/tenacy rights are in force?
* What is the tax situation? Does that country have a tax agreement with the country I have the citizenship?
* What is the social security position? Does that country have a bilateral agreement with the country that will allow you to combine contributions paid in both countries towards certain pension rights, including disability.

For new EU members ( joined in May 2004 )

It is important to note that following the recent enlargement of the EU, there is a transitional period of maximum seven years during which Community law relating to free movement of workers will not yet apply fully across the enlarged EU. Consequently, during the transitional period, workers from 8 of the States which recently joined the EU may face restrictions on access to the labour markets of the EU-15, whilst workers from the EU-15 may face reciprocal restrictions in some of the new Member States.

For EU members

Every citizen of the EU has the right to work and live in another Member State without being discriminated against on grounds of nationality. Free movement of persons is one of the fundamental freedoms guaranteed by Community law. It is perhaps the most important right under Community law for individuals, and an essential element of European citizenship.