Agreement on European Labour Authority HQ Signed in Bratislava

Bratislava, October 4 (TASR) – Labour, Social Affairs and the Family Minister Milan Krajniak (We Are Family) and European Labour Authority (ELA) head Cosmin Boiangiu in Bratislava on Monday signed an international agreement on the basing of the ELA headquarters in the Slovak capital.

The wording of the agreement between the host country (Slovakia) and the ELA was okayed by the Slovak Government on August 25, 2021. However, it still needs to be passed by Parliament before it is ratified.

In line with the agreement, Slovakia will facilitate the setting up of the ELA headquarters in Bratislava. The agreement speaks about the provision of a suitable location for the agency in the Slovak capital and other support for ELA. It mentions certain privileges, immunity and other benefits for the ELA, its executive director, employees and their family members.

The agreement also stipulates that as far as possible the ELA will be exempt from VAT and other indirect taxes on local purchases of goods and services for office use (if the sum is higher than €70). It will be exempt from all duties, bans and export/import restrictions concerning products that are intended for office use.

Hosting the ELA will cut Slovakia’s state budget expenditures side by €55,000 this year and some €1.3 million annually between 2022 and 2024. As the agreement also deals with VAT refunding, it will also have an impact on the incomes side of the state budget, however. In particular, Slovakia’s tax revenues will be reduced by some €145,000 this year, €725,000 in 2022 and €580,000 in 2023. The Labour Ministry has declared that this won’t increase the total sum of expenditures on supporting the ELA in the first ten years of its operation in Slovakia, which has been approved by the Government at €18.4 million.