EU Digital Nomad Pass, a way to make the EU more attractive to Digital Nomads

TheEU Digital Nomad Pass is a legislative proposal submitted by the Global Nomad Guide for the Conference on the Future of Europe. It brings forward the idea of promoting a “stronger economy, social justice, and jobs” in the European Union by creating an EU-wide, comprehensive set of remote work policies for working remotely in Europe, thus making the EU attractive to Digital Nomads from outside of the European Union.

Remote Work for EU citizens

First and foremost, we would like to just preface this proposal by saying, that we believe, this project should go hand in hand with other proposals that suggest improvements to the remote working arrangements legislation for citizens of the EU member countries who would like to work remotely from another European state. There is a lot that needs to happen in that regard first, for sure!

However, creating incentives for Digital Nomads from non-EU countries is, in our opinion a big step to creating job opportunities and stronger local economies for citizens of EU member states.

The proposal can be found on the Future of Europe website, you can comment on it and if you agree with it you can endorse it.

EU Digital Nomad Pass Proposal

A number of countries worldwide are creating strategies in order to attract Digital Nomads to come and work from their country. This is a worldwide growing trend and for a good reason. It’s estimated that on average every Digital Nomad brings 10x more into the local economy than a standard tourist and, as proven by the Madeira case, it brings on average about €1,800 per month to a local community. Spending it on rent, groceries, eating out, and experiences.

Bringing more non-EU Nomads into Europe would:

• bring non-EU capital into Europe that otherwise would end up in non-EU countries;
• help to extend the tourist seasons across Europe but especially to southern regions which struggle to encourage tourism outside to the summer seasons;
• strengthen Europe’s position as a forward-thinking organization that is part of creating the Future of Work!

What are the crucial parts of the EU Digital Nomad Pass:

• 6 months, + 6m extension
• Fees: €1,000 for 6m, €500 extension;
• Min Remote Income/funds from outside EU – €2,000 per month,
• Zero Local Taxes, Social for 183 days, full-year with extension;
• Restrictions: No Local EU employment, Not EU-Resident
• Clear rules that encourage foreign employers to let their employees “Work from Anywhere in EU” without risks e.g. No Filing/Registration Requirement
• Easy & Quick Online Processing max 30 days.

This is an extension of other projects that would make remote work in the EU easy for EU members.

Future of Europe

Also, worth checking are the other ideas and proposals for improving remote work rules across European Union such as:

• EU-wide remote working rules harmonization;
• EU Tax Portal to tackle cross-border tax issues for individuals and simplify tax administration for Member States;
• Making telework from anywhere in the EU possible;
• and many others on other topics..

Last updated September 26, 2022.