Benefits of EU Membership

1. Worker protection

As citizens may work across different Member States throughout their life, their social security rights must be protected by a common system. The EU has no say on the operationality of national social security systems but does ensure that other EU nationals and exportability of benefits are not discriminated against.

EU laws have put in place minimum labour standards. For example, the EU established common norms for the protection of workers with the Working Time Directive 2003/88/EC, including a maximum working week of 48 hours, four weeks of annual paid leave, the entitlement to rest breaks during working hours as well as rules on night work. Similarly, the European Framework Directive on Safety and Health at Work 89/391 EEC sets general principles related to minimum health and safety requirement and has been the basis for other directives, setting minimum obligations for employees and employers (e.g. protection from exposure to carcinogens at work).

2. Gender equality

Gender equality and the fight against gender-based discrimination have become values enshrined in the Treaties. Although more progress is needed, EU regulation has made significant steps in the right direction in the past decades. For example:

• Council Directive 79/7/EEC provisions the equal treatment between men and women in the field of social security, including in cases of invalidity, sickness, unemployment and old age.
• Council Directive 92/85/EEC provides measures on improving the health and safety of pregnant workers and workers who have recently given birth or are breastfeeding.
• Council Directive 2004/113/EC provisions the equal treatment of men and women in the access and supply of goods and services (e.g. costs related to pregnancy should not be considered in the calculation of insurance premiums).
• Directive 2006/54/EC ensures equal treatment in accessing employment, promotion and working conditions; and enshrines the principle of equal pay for equal work.
• Council Directive 2010/18/EU establishes a minimum period of parental leave of four months.

3. Consumer protection

EU legislation sets rights for consumers, standards for products and information, and processes to deal with risks. Given the crossborder nature of the economy, it is of utmost importance that these rights and rules are made unanimous across the EU, to avoid grey areas resulting from different national regulation. Examples of benefits arising from EU consumer protection include:

• Passengers on various modes of transport have rights when it comes to realtime information and compensation for cancellations and/or delay.
• Consumers may always return an online purchase within 14 days and be reimbursed.
• Citizens may not be charged roaming fees for calls, SMS and data when they are in other Member States.

Box 1. Food and product safety

EU-wide systems for information sharing, product tracking and alert sending are crucial to ensure that dangerous food and products are recalled from the market.

• The Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) swiftly shares information concerning food safety risks and hazards to all countries.
• The Trade Control and Expert System is an EU programme that tracks all movements of plants, seeds, food and animals (including imported ones) across the Single Market, thus facilitating safety alerts.
• The Rapid Alert System for Non‑Food Products is notified about health hazards of products by users, and in turn shares the information.