Europe in Motion: Labour Migrants or Mobile Workers? What Does it Mean to Have a Decent Work and to Belong?

International Conference

The international conference, organised as part of the Erasmus+ funded TRAM4DW project, invites stakeholders from Bulgaria, Germany, Spain, Ukraine and the Netherlands – labour and social institutions, industry, civic society and academics to discuss the interrelationships between mobility and labour within the European Union and the accompanying synergies and related challenges.

Over two days and across three thematic panels, prominent speakers will trace a trajectory from ‘mobility’ to ‘belonging’ and open the discussion: starting with the question of who the people moving within Europe are, through to the conditions under which they work and exercise their rights, and on to their opportunities for genuine participation and integration into society. People cross European borders for different reasons and under different legal regimes. They may be mobile EU citizens and workers, labour migrants from third countries, people seeking international protection, refugees or persons under temporary protection. These different positions shape the varying experience in terms of vulnerability, protection and participation.

The first panel, “Free Movement and Mobile Citizenship: Legal, Social and Demographic Dimensions”, will explore the diversity of people on the move, focusing not only on the scale and directions of migration processes, but also on the various forms of mobility and migration and the different legal statuses – mobile EU citizens and workers, labour migrants from third countries, those seeking international protection, refugees and persons under temporary protection.

The second panel, “Decent Work and the Protection of Workers”, will focus on the link between mobility, migration, labour and rights, covering the different groups of people on the move elaborated in the previous panel. The focus is on both new European policies and legal frameworks, and the actual conditions under which different categories of workers exercise their labour rights.

The third panel, “Social Inclusion and Non-Discrimination: From Formal Rights to Genuine Participation”, will take the next step – from the existence of rights and access to work to genuine participation in society. It examines the various dimensions and degrees of social inclusion for people on the move, the barriers to it, and the role of non-discrimination policies.

The conference is based on the understanding that mobility is about more than crossing borders. It is also about access to work, rights and social protection, recognition, equality and the possibility of developing a sense of belonging. It is precisely in the interplay between formal rights and actual participation that questions arise regarding equality, social distance and the sustainability of democratic societies. And regarding these new emerging life pathways at the intersection of migration and labour, human rights-based democracies must offer a response to their desire for participation.

We would particularly value the opportunity to bring together different perspectives and experiences – from policy and institutional practice, employers and service providers, civil society organisations and researchers – and to consider how European societies can respond to new life and work trajectories at the intersection of mobility and migration.

We hope that you will be able to join us in Sofia or online and contribute to this important conversation with your questions and comments.

The detailed conference programme will be shared in due course. It will be published on the project website, and all registered participants will receive it directly once available.

Program:

• English
• Bulgarian
• German
• Spanish
• Ukrainian

Please save the dates November 4–5, 2026 for the international hybrid conference