The Council Working Party on Fundamental Rights, Citizens’ Rights and Free Movement of Persons (FREMP) met on 24 February 2026 at the Justus Lipsius building in Brussels. Austria’s delegation, according to the official agenda filed with the National Council in Vienna, placed two items high on the docket: last-mile preparations for the Schengen Entry/Exit System (EES) and safeguards for posted-worker data sharing. With the EU-wide EES set to go live on 10 April 2026, Vienna asked the Commission to clarify fallback procedures in case biometric gates fail at land crossings such as Nickelsdorf (bordering Hungary). The Interior Ministry fears queues that could snarl just-in-time deliveries to Austrian automotive plants and delay business travellers connecting through Vienna Airport. The Austrian team also pushed for guidance on the planned revision of the Posting of Workers Directive. Multinationals frequently rotate specialists between Austrian and German sites for under-90-day stints; officials want a lighter reporting load once the new IMI (Internal Market Information) modules launch in 2027. For employers the take-away is two-fold: expect stricter passport-stamping discipline after Easter, and prepare HR systems to feed real-time posting data into an upgraded EU portal by next year. Failure to adapt could expose firms to spot fines both at Austrian borders and during labour-inspectorate audits.
