Mobility in Europe

Illustration of people and their various professional activities — The bilateral agreements between Switzerland and the EU facilitate professional mobility for Swiss citizens. © European Commission

Free movement of persons

Following the conclusion of the bilateral agreements between Switzerland and the EU, Swiss nationals have the same rights as EU citizens regarding entry into, residence and employment in member states of the EU and EFTA. They can enter these member states with an identity card, take up gainful employment and register long-term residence there.

Students and pensioners, i.e. persons not in gainful employment, also have the right to enter and reside in EU/EFTA member states if they are able to demonstrate that they possess sufficient financial resources and have health insurance cover.

Unemployed Swiss nationals may spend up to three months in EU/EFTA countries in order to seek employment and are entitled to use the public employment services for this purpose, as long as they obtain the prior consent of the relevant regional employment centre (RAV).

Info Service for unemployed persons (publications – brochures in german, french and italian)

For questions regarding the free movement of persons in relation to the implementation of the constitutional provision on migration, see FDJP information.

Implementation of the new constitutional provisions on migration (de, fr, it)

European Employment Services – EURES

The european job mobility Portal EURES is a network designed to promote cross-border occupational mobility. EURES offers the following services to job-seekers in Europe:

An interactive database for all EU and EFTA member states, listing all job vacancies.
Database
Mediation of jobs in European countries by specially trained EURES consultants at Swiss regional employment centres (RAV) :
Mediation by EURES consultants
A database containing detailed information about living and working conditions in each country within the EURES network.
Country information database

Information can be found on the website of EURES SWITZERLAND:

Looking for work in the EU/EFTA

EURES helps companies looking for employees to fill vacant positions and also provides them with useful information about the situation on the European labour market.

EURES for employers