CHAPTER I

EMPLOYMENT, EQUAL TREATMENT AND WORKERS’ FAMILIES
SECTION 1

Eligibility for employment
Article 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Article 2
Any national of a Member State and any employer pursuing an activity in the territory of a Member State may exchange their applications for and offers of employment, and may conclude and perform contracts of employment in accordance with the provisions in force laid down by law, regulation or administrative action, without any discrimination resulting therefrom.
Article 3
1
Under this Regulation, provisions laid down by law, regulation or administrative action or administrative practices of a Member State shall not apply:
a
where they limit application for and offers of employment, or the right of foreign nationals to take up and pursue employment or subject these to conditions not applicable in respect of their own nationals; or
b
where, though applicable irrespective of nationality, their exclusive or principal aim or effect is to keep nationals of other Member States away from the employment offered.
The first subparagraph shall not apply to conditions relating to linguistic knowledge required by reason of the nature of the post to be filled.
2
There shall be included in particular among the provisions or practices of a Member State referred to in the first subparagraph of paragraph 1 those which:
a
prescribe a special recruitment procedure for foreign nationals;
b
limit or restrict the advertising of vacancies in the press or through any other medium or subject it to conditions other than those applicable in respect of employers pursuing their activities in the territory of that Member State;
c
subject eligibility for employment to conditions of registration with employment offices or impede recruitment of individual workers, where persons who do not reside in the territory of that State are concerned.
Article 4
1
Provisions laid down by law, regulation or administrative action of the Member States which restrict by number or percentage the employment of foreign nationals in any undertaking, branch of activity or region, or at a national level, shall not apply to nationals of the other Member States.
2
When in a Member State the granting of any benefit to undertakings is subject to a minimum percentage of national workers being employed, nationals of the other Member States shall be counted as national workers, subject to Directive 2005/36/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 7 September 2005 on the recognition of professional qualifications .
Article 5
A national of a Member State who seeks employment in the territory of another Member State shall receive the same assistance there as that afforded by the employment offices in that State to their own nationals seeking employment.
Article 6
1
The engagement and recruitment of a national of one Member State for a post in another Member State shall not depend on medical, vocational or other criteria which are discriminatory on grounds of nationality by comparison with those applied to nationals of the other Member State who wish to pursue the same activity.
2
A national who holds an offer in his name from an employer in a Member State other than that of which he is a national may have to undergo a vocational test, if the employer expressly requests this when making his offer of employment.
SECTION 2

Employment and equality of treatment
Article 7
1
A worker who is a national of a Member State may not, in the territory of another Member State, be treated differently from national workers by reason of his nationality in respect of any conditions of employment and work, in particular as regards remuneration, dismissal, and, should he become unemployed, reinstatement or re-employment.
2
He shall enjoy the same social and tax advantages as national workers.
2A
Paragraphs 1 and 2 do not apply in relation to the matters set out in the Schedule to the Cessation of EU Law Relating to Prohibitions on Grounds of Nationality and Free Movement of Persons Regulations 2022 (relevant matters).
3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4
Any clause of a collective or individual agreement or of any other collective regulation concerning eligibility for employment, remuneration and other conditions of work or dismissal shall be null and void in so far as it lays down or authorises discriminatory conditions in respect of workers who are nationals of the other Member States.
Article 8
A worker who is a national of a Member State and who is employed in the territory of another Member State shall enjoy equality of treatment as regards membership of trade unions and the exercise of rights attaching thereto, including the right to vote and to be eligible for the administration or management posts of a trade union. He may be excluded from taking part in the management of bodies governed by public law and from holding an office governed by public law. Furthermore, he shall have the right of eligibility for workers’ representative bodies in the undertaking.
The first paragraph of this Article shall not affect laws or regulations in certain Member States which grant more extensive rights to workers coming from the other Member States.
Article 9. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
SECTION 3

Workers’ families
Article 10. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
OJ L 255, 30.9.2005, p. 22.
Arts. 2-10 restricted (31.12.2020) by Immigration and Social Security Co-ordination (EU Withdrawal) Act 2020 (c. 20), s. 9(1), Sch. 1 para. 4(2) (with s. 4(2)); S.I. 2020/1279, reg. 4(c)
Art. 1 omitted (31.12.2020) by virtue of Immigration and Social Security Co-ordination (EU Withdrawal) Act 2020 (c. 20), s. 9(1), Sch. 1 para. 4(1) (with s. 4(2)); S.I. 2020/1279, reg. 4(c)
Art. 7(2A) inserted (29.11.2022) by The Cessation of EU Law Relating to Prohibitions on Grounds of Nationality and Free Movement of Persons Regulations 2022 (S.I. 2022/1240), regs. 1(2), 4(2)(a) (with reg. 1(4))
Art. 7(3) omitted (29.11.2022) by virtue of The Cessation of EU Law Relating to Prohibitions on Grounds of Nationality and Free Movement of Persons Regulations 2022 (S.I. 2022/1240), regs. 1(2), 4(2)(b) (with reg. 1(4))
Art. 9 omitted (29.11.2022) by virtue of The Cessation of EU Law Relating to Prohibitions on Grounds of Nationality and Free Movement of Persons Regulations 2022 (S.I. 2022/1240), regs. 1(2), 4(3) (with reg. 1(4))
Art. 10 omitted (29.11.2022) by virtue of The Cessation of EU Law Relating to Prohibitions on Grounds of Nationality and Free Movement of Persons Regulations 2022 (S.I. 2022/1240), regs. 1(2), 4(3) (with reg. 1(4))