To ask the Minister for Communities to outline the impact of the Withdrawal Agreement on the European Employment Services which provides information, advice and guidance on living and working in other European Economic Area member countries for the benefit of workers, as well as employers experiencing difficulty recruiting locally.

The Withdrawal Agreement provides that a European Employment Service (EURES) will continue to operate until the end of the period of transition, 31 December 2020. EURES will continue to provide a normal service of support and guidance to employers and jobseekers to that date, including the availability of the European network of advisers, vacancies and employers, and will continue to share local vacancies to all other EU regions via the EURES portal.

From January 2021, the EU freedom of movement, which allows the EURES service to operate, will no longer apply and citizens here will no longer have access to the EURES network and portal. This will result in vacancies here no longer being shared across Europe, and European vacancies no longer shared directly to citizens here.

As EURES operates under the European network for job mobility, as part of freedom of movement throughout the EU, this service will cease on 31 December 2020.