1. Recent developments
at EU level concerning
social security
coordination
trESS bilateral seminar Lithuania-Latvia
19 April 2012
Miroslava Hájková & Felix Schatz
DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion
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2. Overview
• Legislative developments
Miscellaneous amendments 2010
EEA and Switzerland
• External dimension
• Work of the Administrative Commission
New decisions and recommendations and other forms of guidance
Outcome of Working Parties
• Case-law on social security coordination
• Outlook
Review of provisions on unemployment and long-term care
• Information sources and funding
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3. LEGISLATIVE
DEVELOPMENTS
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4. Miscellaneous Amendments 2010
Commission Regulation 1244/2010 (of 9.12.2010)
•Published on 22 December 2010: update of Annexes
EP-Council Regulation
•Discussions started in January 2011 (HU Presidency)
•EPSCO Council December 2011: general approach (PL
Presidency)
•EP Plenary – 18 April 2012
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5. Miscellaneous Amendments 2010
Main changes
•Applicable legislation: change of rules for working
in 2 or more MS - Article 13 BR and 14(5) and (5b)
IR
•Introduction of the concept of “ home base” for air
crew members - Article 11(5) BR and 14(5a) IR
•Solution for formerly self-employed frontier
workers who were covered in the Member State of
last activity, but whose MS of residence does not
have an unemployment benefits scheme - Article
65a BR
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6. EEA and Switzerland
• EEA Joint Committee Decision No 76/2011
• adopted on 1 July 2011 (OJ L 262, 6.10.2011, p. 33)
• not yet entered into force (pending approval by IS
parliament) – possibly on 1 May 2012
• Regulations (EEC) Nos 1408/71 and 574/72 still
apply in relation to IS, LI and NO
• EC-CH Joint Committee Decision No 1/2012
• OJ L 103, 13.4.2012, p. 51
• Regulations (EC) Nos 883/2004 and 987/2009
apply in relation to Switzerland since 1 April 2012
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7. EXTERNAL
DIMENSION
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8. Communication on the External Dimension of
EU Social Security Coordination
• makes the case for strengthening cooperation
between Member States to achieve a more
coherent approach to social security coordination
with third countries
• sets out ways in which the EU rules currently
impact on social security coordination with third
countries
• describes existing components of common EU
approach to social security coordination with third
countries
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9. The Communication proposes:
• the creation of a new annual forum at EU level to
strengthen cooperation between Member States
as regards third countries
• exploring the use of EU social security agreements
with selected third countries
• developing the common EU approach, including
the adoption of a second package of Association
Council decisions with Turkey, Albania,
Montenegro and San Marino
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10. WORK OF THE
ADMINISTRATIVE
COMMISSION
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11. New Decisions and Recommendations
• H5: cooperation on combating fraud and error (OJ
C 149, 8.6.2010, p. 5)
• H6: application of Article 6 of Regulation (EC) No
883/2004 (OJ C 45, 12.2.2011, p.5)
• S8: substantial benefits in kind – Article 33 of
Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 (OJ C 262, 6.9.2011,
p. 6)
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12. New Decisions and Recommendations
• E3: prolongation of transitional period for EESSI
(OJ C 12, 14.1.2012, p. 6)
• U4: reimbursement of unemployment benefits for
former frontier workers (OJ C 57, 25.2.2012, p. 4)
• Recommendation No S1: healthcare coverage for
cross-border living organ donation (pending
publication)
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13. Practical Guide on applicable
legislation
• Replaces the "Posting Guide"
• Working instrument to assist institutions,
employers and citizens in the area of determining
the applicable social security legislation
• Separate chapter on applicable legislation when
working in two or more Member States
• Guidance on transitional arrangements
• Available on the Commission's website:
http://ec.europa.eu/social-security-coordination
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14. Working Parties of the AC
• Child-raising periods
• 14 April 2011
• Follow-up by Ad-hoc Group of the AC
• Patients' mobility
• 4 October 2011
• Follow-up by guidance from the Commissions
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15. Working Parties of the AC
• Recovery
• 17 November 2011
• Follow-up by an explanatory note by the
Commission (to be finalised)
• Family benefits (ex-Decisions Nos 147 and 150)
• 18 April 2012
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16. Directive 2011/24/EU - patients'
rights in cross-border healthcare
• How does the patients' mobility directive interact
with the social security coordination rules in
Regulations (EC) Nos 883/2004 and 987/2009?
• Joint note on the interpretation of the two
instruments in the light of the other to be
presented to Administrative Commission in June
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17. CASE-LAW
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18. Case-law
• Case C-440/09 Tomaszewska
Aggregation of periods
Link with Decision No H6
• Case C-388/09 da Silva Martins
Long-term care – need for reform of rules?
• Case C-503/09 Stewart
Residence conditions
Influence of Union citizenship on the entitlement to social security
benefits
• Case C-257/10 Bergström
"0+1" aggregation of periods
Assimilation of facts (here: income)
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19. Decision No H6 of the AC
• irrelevant whether periods are contributory or
only equivalent under national law
• no questioning of value of periods
• aggregation of periods (Article 6 BR) vs “other
conditions” (Point 3 of the Decision)
• assimilation of facts (Article 5 BR) – should not
interfere with aggregation (Recital 10 BR) –
“other conditions”
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20. Case-law
• Case C-440/09 Tomaszewska
Aggregation of periods
Link with Decision No H6
• Case C-388/09 da Silva Martins
Long-term care – need for reform of rules?
• Case C-503/09 Stewart
Residence conditions
Influence of Union citizenship on the entitlement to social security
benefits
• Case C-257/10 Bergström
"0+1" aggregation of periods
Assimilation of facts (here: income)
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21. OUTLOOK
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22. Revision of coordination
Regulations
• Scope:
coordination of long-term care benefits
(LTC)
coordination of unemployment benefits
• Planning
2009-2011 Evaluation
2012-2013 Impact assessment
2014 Proposal from the Commission
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23. Revision of coordination
Regulations
Aim:
• Improved social security protection of the migrant
persons
• Enhanced effectiveness of the coordination regime
• Legal certainty for all stakeholders
• Simplification
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24. Coordination of LTC benefits
Is the current system of coordination of long-term
care benefits satisfactory? Is a new set of rules
needed & how radical the changes should be?
•LTC within material scope of coordination Regulations
•Coordination under Sickness Chapter
•Jurisprudence of Court of Justice (recent: C-208/07, Chamier-
Glisczinski, C-388/09 da Silva, C-206/10, Commission v.
Germany, C-538/11 Sax - pending)
•No definition, no list of benefits
See also: trESS Tank Report 2011; trESS analysis of selected
concepts 2010
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25. Unemployment Chapter
A room for simplification and clarification?
•complex coordination regime for cross-border workers
(Article 65 and new Article 65a), including the new
reimbursement mechanism (Decision U4)
•application of the case-law of the Court of Justice (C-
131/95, Huijbrechts, C-1/85, Miethe)
•extension of the period of export of unemployment
benefits
•application of the principle of aggregation of periods
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26. INFORMATION SOURCES
FUNDING
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27. Information sources
• Commission's website
http://ec.europa.eu/social-security-coordination
Links to legislation, official documents
Practical guide on applicable legislation
"Small Guide" on citizens' rights
Information sheets "Your rights country by country"
Explanatory notes and videos
• trESS network
http://www.tress-network.org
trESS seminars
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28. Information sources
• New Smartphone Application – EHIC
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29. Funding by the Commission:
Call for proposals 2012
• Financial support to:
- trans-national actions for cooperation and/or for
improving information;
- transnational or national actions for preparing and
implementing the system for electronic data exchange
(EESSI).
• Deadline for applications: 31 May 2012
• Details:
http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?
catId=630&langId=en&callId=347&furtherCalls=yes
• Questions:
by email: empl-b4-calls-proposals@ec.europa.eu
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30. Thank you very much for your attention!
QUESTIONS
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