New Öresund Agreement welcomed by Freedom of Movement Council
Anders Ahnlid leder Gränshinderrådets kickoff i Köpenhamn februari 2024.
The Freedom of Movement Council is chaired by Anders Ahnlid in 2024.
“An updated Öresund Agreement is good news for the thousands of people who commute across the strait between Sweden and Denmark for work, and for the companies that operate on both sides of the border. This demonstrates that our countries can come to a mutual agreement even on complicated tax issues. Now is the time to take things a step further and negotiate smoother tax regulations even between the other Nordic countries,” says Anders.
Anders highlights an analysis initiated by the Freedom of Movement Council last year, pointing out several problem areas that are currently holding the Nordic labour market back. It’s clear that those who commute to another Nordic country for work, or employ someone from another Nordic country, encounter unnecessary bureaucracy and ambiguous rules.
In the worst-case scenario, employers hesitate to hire and employees hesitate to take a job across a border, the result being that the countries to miss out on the economic benefits that freedom of movement brings.
New agreement makes life easier for commuters
The main purpose of the new Öresund Agreement is to simplify and alleviate the bureaucratic burden for cross-border commuters and their employers. This will result in a better functioning labour market in the Öresund region and create the conditions for more jobs and more growth.
Simplification and reducing bureaucracy are also among the issues that the Freedom of Movement Council raises with the governments regarding the Nordic tax agreement and other tax regulations.
The new Öresund Agreement is adapted to the modern-day labour market. From now on, cross-border commuters will have better opportunities for remote working in their country of residence without this triggering changes in their taxation status. This flexibility will also be available for publicly employed individuals, which hasn’t been the case so far.
The so-called compensation scheme will continue to include compensation for publicly employed individuals who don’t pay income tax in their home municipality, which currently isn’t the case.
A technical review of the agreement will now commence with the aim of it being signed by Sweden and Denmark as soon as possible so that it can come into effect in 2025.
Facts:
- The Freedom of Movement Council is an independent body tasked by the Nordic governments with promoting freedom of movement in the Nordic Region for the benefit of both individuals and businesses.
- The main task of the Freedom of Movement Council is to act as a driving force in respect of national political and administrative systems with the aim of creating the conditions for an integrated region where residents can easily work, move, study, and start businesses across borders.
- This work is crucial for us to achieve the Nordic prime ministers’ Vision 2030 – for the Nordic Region is to be the most integrated and sustainable region in the world by 2030.
