Enforcement, Information or Socialization? The Role of the European Labour Authority in Protecting Mobile Workers in the EU

Abstract

This article analyses the European Labour Authority (ELA) to understand the strategies EU agencies can use to improve EU rule implementation. Theoretically, we depart from established EU implementation and compliance research, broadly distinguishing between enforcement, information and socialization strategies. Empirically, the analysis draws on 18 semi‐structured background interviews with ELA and national officials and stakeholders as well as on documents from the negotiation of ELA's mandate, its first 5 years of operation and the review of the ELA regulation. We find that ELA tries to meet, at least partly, the high and diverse expectations of its stakeholders by pursuing a multitude of enforcement and information strategies in parallel. Given its limited resources to enforce and inform top‐down, however, most observers see the greatest potential for ELA in a socialization strategy, which prompts horizontal cross‐border co‐operation and builds trust amongst national enforcement authorities through joint inspections and liaison officers.