CHAPTER II

CLEARANCE OF VACANCIES AND APPLICATIONS FOR EMPLOYMENT
SECTION 1

Cooperation between the Member States and with the Commission
Article 11
1
The Member States or the Commission shall instigate or together undertake any study of employment or unemployment which they consider necessary for freedom of movement for workers within the Union.
The central employment services of the Member States shall cooperate closely with each other and with the Commission with a view to acting jointly as regards the clearing of vacancies and applications for employment within the Union and the resultant placing of workers in employment.
2
To this end the Member States shall designate specialist services which shall be entrusted with organising work in the fields referred to in the second subparagraph of paragraph 1 and cooperating with each other and with the departments of the Commission.
The Member States shall notify the Commission of any change in the designation of such services and the Commission shall publish details thereof for information in the Official Journal of the European Union.
Article 12
1
The Member States shall send to the Commission information on problems arising in connection with the freedom of movement and employment of workers and particulars of the state and development of employment.
2
The Commission, taking the utmost account of the opinion of the Technical Committee referred to in Article 29 (‘the Technical Committee’), shall determine the manner in which the information referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article is to be drawn up.
3
In accordance with the procedure laid down by the Commission taking the utmost account of the opinion of the Technical Committee, the specialist service of each Member State shall send to the specialist services of the other Member States and to the European Coordination Office referred to in Article 18 such information concerning living and working conditions and the state of the labour market as is likely to be of guidance to workers from the other Member States. Such information shall be brought up to date regularly.
The specialist services of the other Member States shall ensure that wide publicity is given to such information, in particular by circulating it among the appropriate employment services and by all suitable means of communication for informing the workers concerned.
SECTION 2

Machinery for vacancy clearance
Article 13
1
The specialist service of each Member State shall regularly send to the specialist services of the other Member States and to the European Coordination Office referred to in Article 18:
a
details of vacancies which could be filled by nationals of other Member States;
b
details of vacancies addressed to third countries;
c
details of applications for employment by those who have formally expressed a wish to work in another Member State;
d
information, by region and by branch of activity, on applicants who have declared themselves actually willing to accept employment in another country.
The specialist service of each Member State shall forward this information to the appropriate employment services and agencies as soon as possible.
2
The details of vacancies and applications referred to in paragraph 1 shall be circulated according to a uniform system to be established by the European Coordination Office referred to in Article 18 in collaboration with the Technical Committee.
This system may be adapted if necessary.
Article 14
1
Any vacancy within the meaning of Article 13 communicated to the employment services of a Member State shall be notified to and processed by the competent employment services of the other Member States concerned.
Such services shall forward to the services of the first Member State the details of suitable applications.
2
The applications for employment referred to in point (c) of the first subparagraph of Article 13(1) shall be responded to by the relevant services of the Member States within a reasonable period, not exceeding 1 month.
3
The employment services shall grant workers who are nationals of the Member States the same priority as the relevant measures grant to nationals vis-à-vis workers from third countries.
Article 15
1
The provisions of Article 14 shall be implemented by the specialist services. However, in so far as they have been authorised by the central services and in so far as the organisation of the employment services of a Member State and the placing techniques employed make it possible:
a
the regional employment services of the Member States shall:
1. on the basis of the information referred to in Article 13, on which appropriate action will be taken, directly bring together and clear vacancies and applications for employment;
2. establish direct relations for clearance:
  - of vacancies offered to a named worker,
  - of individual applications for employment sent either to a specific employment service or to an employer pursuing his activity within the area covered by such a service,
  - where the clearing operations concern seasonal workers who must be recruited as quickly as possible;
b
the services territorially responsible for the border regions of two or more Member States shall regularly exchange data relating to vacancies and applications for employment in their area and, acting in accordance with their arrangements with the other employment services of their countries, shall directly bring together and clear vacancies and applications for employment.
If necessary, the services territorially responsible for border regions shall also set up cooperation and service structures to provide:
- users with as much practical information as possible on the various aspects of mobility, and
- management and labour, social services (in particular public, private or those of public interest) and all institutions concerned, with a framework of coordinated measures relating to mobility,
c
official employment services which specialise in certain occupations or specific categories of persons shall cooperate directly with each other.
2
The Member States concerned shall forward to the Commission the list, drawn up by common accord, of services referred to in paragraph 1 and the Commission shall publish such list for information, and any amendment thereto, in the Official Journal of the European Union.
Article 16
Adoption of recruiting procedures as applied by the implementing bodies provided for under agreements concluded between two or more Member States shall not be obligatory.
SECTION 3

Measures for controlling the balance of the labour market
Article 17
1
On the basis of a report from the Commission drawn up from information supplied by the Member States, the latter and the Commission shall at least once a year analyse jointly the results of Union arrangements regarding vacancies and applications.
2
The Member States shall examine with the Commission all the possibilities of giving priority to nationals of Member States when filling employment vacancies in order to achieve a balance between vacancies and applications for employment within the Union. They shall adopt all measures necessary for this purpose.
3
Every 2 years the Commission shall submit a report to the European Parliament, the Council and the European Economic and Social Committee on the implementation of Chapter II, summarising the information required and the data obtained from the studies and research carried out and highlighting any useful points with regard to developments on the Union’s labour market.
SECTION 4

European Coordination Office
Article 18
The European Office for Coordinating the Clearance of Vacancies and Applications for Employment (‘the European Coordination Office’), established within the Commission, shall have the general task of promoting vacancy clearance at Union level. It shall be responsible in particular for all the technical duties in this field which, under the provisions of this Regulation, are assigned to the Commission, and especially for assisting the national employment services.
It shall summarise the information referred to in Articles 12 and 13 and the data arising out of the studies and research carried out pursuant to Article 11, so as to bring to light any useful facts about foreseeable developments on the Union labour market; such facts shall be communicated to the specialist services of the Member States and to the Advisory Committee referred to in Article 21 and the Technical Committee.
Article 19
1
The European Coordination Office shall be responsible, in particular, for:
a
coordinating the practical measures necessary for vacancy clearance at Union level and for analysing the resulting movements of workers;
b
contributing to such objectives by implementing, in cooperation with the Technical Committee, joint methods of action at administrative and technical levels;
c
carrying out, where a special need arises, and in agreement with the specialist services, the bringing together of vacancies and applications for employment for clearance by those specialist services.
2
It shall communicate to the specialist services vacancies and applications for employment sent directly to the Commission, and shall be informed of the action taken thereon.
Article 20
The Commission may, in agreement with the competent authority of each Member State, and in accordance with the conditions and procedures which it shall determine on the basis of the opinion of the Technical Committee, organise visits and assignments for officials of other Member States, and also advanced programmes for specialist personnel.