Your rights as an EU citizen

As an EU citizen, you have a number of rights within the EU. EU countries are required to provide equal treatment to all EU citizens, making all discrimination on grounds of nationality prohibited. Thus, the free movement of persons allows you to move to another EU country and to be treated equally and have the same rights as the citizens of that country. Some examples of rights related to EU citizenship are briefly described below.

Right of residence in another EU country

As a citizen of an EU or EEA country (Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland), you have the right to stay in another EU/EEA country for more than three months if you work or study, apply for a job or have enough money to support yourself. You also need comprehensive health insurance. If you have legally resided in another EU country for five years, you have a permanent right of residence there.

If you, as an EU citizen, have family members from countries outside the EU or the EEA, your family members may also have right of residence in the country where you live together. Family members must apply for a residence card. You can find more information on the right of residence on the Your Europe website.

Work in another EU country

As an EU citizen, you have the right to employment in another EU country under the same conditions as the citizens of that country. For example, you have right to the same working conditions, salary and social and tax benefits. However, there are some exceptions. Specific language requirements may be set, and certain services in the public sector may be reserved for the country's own citizens. You can find information about working abroad on the Your Europe website.

If you want to work in another EU country, you can look for vacancies in all EU countries on the EURES website, which shows vacancies in all EU countries.

Move to Sweden to work

If you want to move to Sweden to work but are not sure what rules apply to you as an EU citizen (and your family), you can find more information on the Working in Sweden website.

Report: Moving to Sweden

This report analyses the free movement when moving to Sweden for work. While in many ways, it is easy to live in Sweden as an EU citizen, obstacles still remain that need to be overcome.
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Covered by social insurance

As an EU citizen, you have your social insurance in the country in which you work or reside. If you move to another country, you must ensure that you are insured in the right country. You can find social insurance information on the Your Europe website.

Get your professional qualifications recognised

If you want to work in another EU or EEA country where your profession is regulated, you must have your professional qualifications (education and work experience) officially recognised there before you can start working. Regulated professions differ across the EU. Find out if your profession is regulated and which authority you should contact on the Your Europe website.

Working conditions as a posted worker

If you have been sent to another EU country by your employer to carry out work there for a limited time, you may have status as a posted worker. As posted in another EU country, you are often still insured in your country of origin, but specific employment and working conditions in the country where you work, might apply. You can find information on posted workers on the Your Europe website.

Pension

If you have worked in EU or EEA countries, you may have earned pension rights in more than one country. You apply for a pension to the pension authority in the country where you live or in the country where you last worked. You can find information on pension abroad on the Your Europe website.