EU and international work

Arbetsförmedlingen cooperates within the EU and internationally in order to contribute to sustainable development of the labour market in Sweden and the countries with which we cooperate.

Bild på flaggstångar med flaggor med länder från hela världen.

Partnerships and networks

Our partnerships within the EU and globally are based on

  • Sweden’s membership of the EU
  • The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals in the 2030 Agenda
  • Sweden’s global development policy and the EU’s external assistance policy
  • The EU’s external assistance policy.

An increasingly global and digital labour market increases the demands placed on us to, in partnership with others, contribute to sustainable development in the labour market. This is especially pertinent to the transformation of the labour force in order to meet future skills requirements. The capacity of the public employment services in the EU and the wider world is key in order to contribute to increase employment, which is vital to tackling exclusion and reducing poverty. As an EU member state, Sweden has also committed to facilitating the free movement of labour and to contributing to strengthening the common European labour market.

We endeavour to be an organisation that learns and that actively works to achieve European and global objectives. Having access to international networks forms a basis of Arbetsförmedlingen’s development and learning. This work contributes to new perspectives on the development of Arbetsförmedlingen’s assignment, activities and the goals we set.

Here you can read about some of the networks and partnerships we are involved in.

The free movement of people is one of the fundamental rights in the EU. These rights include that people, companies and organisations shall be given information about and help to find jobs or labour within the EU, EEA and Switzerland. The European Employment Services (EURES), a European cooperation network we are involved in, exists in order to facilitate this.

Assignment

As an EU member state, Sweden has committed to facilitating the free movement of labour and to contributing to strengthening the common European labour market. Here at Arbetsförmedlingen, we are contributing to this via the EURES cooperation network. We are to adhere to and apply legal acts regarding the free movement of EU citizens in the labour market and employers’ opportunities to recruit staff. The cooperation with the other member states creates opportunities and strengthens Arbetsförmedlingen to face the challenges present in the European labour market.

Two roles

We have two roles in the EURES network in that we are both the national coordination office and an EURES member.

National coordination office

This role includes coordinating the Swedish EURES network’s members and partners. Members and partners are those who provide mobility services to employers and jobseekers. The public employment service has a special role in each country and is always included as a member. Other organisations and companies can, after their application has been approved, participate as members or partners. A member provides the entire range of EURES services, and a partner offers a more limited range. The national coordination office’s role includes handling applications from the companies and organisations in Sweden that want to join the EURES network. The network’s composition of different actors contributes to the supply of skills to the national labour market and has a leading role within European matching.

Read more about membership as well as information about and contact details for members and partners in Sweden and Europe:

Eures network in Sweden

EURES member

In our role as an EURES member includes the provision of EURES services within matching, information and advice to employers and jobseekers. This is an integrated part of Arbetsförmedlingen’s labour market policy assignment. Arbetsförmedlingen’s active efforts in the European labour market is able to meet employers’ needs in respect of labour that is difficult to recruit and to give jobseekers access to a common European labour market. Consequently, EURES is creating more opportunities for both jobseekers and employers when it comes to matching with a focus on occupations where there is a shortage of labour. The services are offered by EURES staff, known as EURES Advisers, or via self-service. As is the case for all members of the network, there is also a requirement to refer, when necessary, to other EURES members or partners in the network.

Read more about Arbetsförmedlingen’s services as an EURES member:

Find a job abroad (in Swedish)

Recruit in Europe (in Swedish)

We cooperate with other European public employment services and the European Commission in the European Network of Public Employment Services (PES Network). The purpose of this cooperation is to improve the public employment services’ efficiency and capacity and thus contribute to increasing employment in the EU.

This cooperation is regulated through decisions made at the EU level and is a priority cooperation network for learning and development within Arbetsförmedlingen. The network’s annual work programme with goals and activities forms the basis on which cooperation takes place. The labour market of the future, digitalisation, long-term unemployment and integration of new immigrants are examples of issues that are dealt with in the network.

You can read more about the collaboration in the network on the European Commission’s website for public employment services.

PES on the European Commission website (ec.europa.eu)

Arbetsförmedlingen is one of the co-founders of the World Association of Public Employment Services (WAPES), an international organisation whose members are public employment services from more than 80 countries. WAPES forms an important platform for Arbetsförmedlingen’s contacts outside the EU, not least within the scope of our work with international development. Arbetsförmedlingen contributes actively to the work within WAPES in order to strengthen the organisation’s development and Arbetsförmedlingen’s international network and frame of reference.

WAPES.org

International development cooperation

Work and employment is an effective method of combatting poverty where the public employment service plays a key role in developing a well-functioning labour market. Our cooperation with other countries is conducted in projects and shall contribute to the implementation of

  • Sweden’s global development policy
  • The UN Sustainable Development Goals in the 2030 Agenda
  • Sweden’s and the EU’s external assistance policy.

The Swedish Government places great importance on the 2030 Agenda and expects government agencies to contribute to the achieving the goals. Goal eight, Decent Work and Economic Growth, is particularly relevant to us.

We work with countries in the vicinity of the EU such as Belarus and Tunisia but also with countries in southern Africa and East Asia. In most cases, the aim of this cooperation is to support the development of labour market agencies and labour market policy in the partner countries. However, in some countries labour migration has been the primary theme.

Our work with the 2030 Agenda ( in swedish)

Financing and resources

Our international development cooperation takes place in projects that are externally financed. The most important sponsors are Sida and the EU.

The international development cooperation conducted by Arbetsförmedlingen is based on the agency’s core competency, and each year, around 50 of the agency’s employees are involved in the development cooperation.

For democracy and decreased poverty

A well-functioning employment service contributes to more people – regardless of gender, age, ethnicity, disability or individual financial and other conditions – having the opportunity to pursue education, to work and to support themselves. Equal financial opportunities for women and men are one of the keys to combatting poverty.

We contribute to building up a good public management culture in the collaborating countries which is an important factor in the development towards democracy and reduced poverty.

Each year we publish a report on our international development work. You can find reports under “Governance and results”.

Governance and results

Ongoing projects

We conduct international development cooperation projects within a number of areas relating to the labour market.

In these projects, we often cooperate with ministries of labour and labour market agencies at a central, regional and local level. In order for this capacity development work to achieve sustainable results, it also requires us to cooperate with several other actors.

Arbetsförmedlingen runs a project in Albania together with the UN agency UNDP and ADRF, an Albanian organisation for people with disabilities. The aim is to strengthen the partnership between the Albanian employment service, other labour market actors and the country's municipalities. This may lead to a more inclusive and integrated labour market, with a particular focus on vulnerable groups.

Project period: 2024–2026

Arbetsförmedlingen is part of the Strengthening Migration Governance and Integration project, which is implemented in cooperation with the Swedish Migration Agency (Migrationsverket) and financed by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida). The project aims to strengthen Armenia's capacity to manage migration and to facilitate migrants' entry into the labour market. A particular focus is on promoting the integration of refugees who have been displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh.

Arbetsförmedlingen is responsible for the part of the project that concerns the integration of refugees. The agency contributes expertise in labour market analysis, matching job seekers with employers, digital tools and active labour market measures. The aim is to support the development of a more transparent, efficient and inclusive labour market.

Project period: 2025–2030.

While unemployment is high in Bosnia and Herzegovina, many employers there report difficulties in finding qualified staff. Together with France's employment service, Arbetsförmedlingen is participating in a project aimed at improving conditions for individuals who are further from the labour market. The project is led by the UN agency ILO and funded by the EU and Sida.

Project period: 2024–2025

The Swedish Public Employment Service is implementing an international training programme (ITP) called Social Security for Sustainable Development together with the South African research institute Economic Policy Research Institute (EPRI). The aim of the programme is to strengthen the participating countries' capacity to design and introduce social security systems in their home countries. Participants include Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and Zambia. The programme started in 2019 and Sida granted an extension in 2024 until 2026.

About the programme at EPRI (epri.org)

The Swedish Public Employment Service, together with government agencies in France, Slovenia and Greece, has been assigned to run an EU-funded project in Serbia. The project aims to adapt Serbian labour market legislation to EU legislation and to prepare the country for membership of EURES, a network designed to facilitate cross-border mobility within the EU. The Swedish Public Employment Service will make a contribution to the part of the project that deals with EURES.

The Swedish Public Employment Service is running two projects in Ukraine. One, which is funded by the Swedish Institute, is being implemented in collaboration with the United Nations agency UNDP and is directed towards making it easier for people with disability to enter and remain in the labour market. The project is ongoing until November 2025 and is intended to lead to longer-term cooperation after the end of the project period.
The second project involves, among other things, improving information about the labour market and strengthening local employment services in Ukraine. It is funded by Sida and is being implemented in collaboration with the Swiss organisation Helvetas. The project will run until 2026.

Arbetsförmedlingen contributes to the development of public employment services in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo through a three-year project funded by Sida (Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency). The project focuses on labour market forecasts and analyses, work with vulnerable groups, digital services, and staff training. The purpose of the project is to have the employment services of these three countries exchange experiences with each other. The project is run in collaboration with the Swiss organisation Helvetas.

Project period 2023–2026.

Employment services in Europe

Does your company or organisation work with recruitment and offer services to jobseekers and employers? Discover the opportunities of working with the European labour market. Read more about how to become a member of the Eures network and the benefits it can offer.

Eures network

Contact us

You are welcome to contact us if you want to know more about ongoing EU-funded projects, international development collaborations or the international networks we participate in.

E-mail to the international unit