EUROPEAN COMMISSIONEMPL/01878/09 - EN
SS.TM. 04/09Report of the chairman of the Administrative Commission on its activities
SECRETARIAT – 02.10.2009
ORIG.: EN
ADMINISTRATIVE COMMISSION
ON SOCIAL SECURITY FOR MIGRANT WORKERS
Subject:Report of the Chairman of the Administrative Commission on its activities
Note from the Secretariat of 2 October 2009
This report covers the main activities of the Administrative Commission (AC) since the last meeting of the Advisory Committee, i.e. meetings 311–315 of the AC between October 2008 and June 2009 (French and Czech Presidencies).
The following topics were also discussed in the AC, but are not dealt with in this report, since they are presented under other items on the agenda of this Advisory Committee meeting:
–European Health Insurance Card: see Note SS.TM.07/09 “Monitoring of the European Health Insurance Card”.
–Judgments of the European Court of Justice: see Note SS.TM. 06/09, “Report on the judgments of the European Court of Justice since the last meeting of the Advisory Committee”.
–Electronic data exchanges: see Note SS.TM. 05/09
1. Preparations for the application of the new Regulations
As already reported at the last meeting (see note SSTM 04/08), one of the main priorities for the AC currently is the preparation for the application of the new social security coordination Regulations. On the basis of its constantly adapted Work Plan the AC has further intensified its preparatory work during the reference period, supported by Task Force on electronic data exchange and the Technical Commissionwith regard to all the issues related to the EESSI project (see SSTM 05/09).
The main aim of the AC was to adopt a package of revised Decisions and Recommendations at its 315th meeting in June 2009 in Prague, so that these Decisions and Recommendations are available for institutions in all Community languages in time before the entry into force of the new Regulations.
1.1. New Decisions of the Administrative Commission
Under Regulations (EEC) No 1408/71 and (EEC) No 574/72 the AC adopted more than 200 interpretative Decisions and Recommendations, out of which 49 Decisions and 5 Recommendations are currently in force.
In view of the entry into force of the new modernised coordination Regulations on 1 May 2010, all the above Decisions and Recommendations in force had to be reviewed and, if necessary, adapted to the provisions of the new Regulations. In addition, a small number of new interpretative Decisions and/or Recommendation as well as an adaptation the rules of the committees are needed
At its 315th meeting in Prague on 11-12 June 2009 the AC adopted a package of13 interpretative Decisions, 3 Recommendations and its new rules of procedure. This was a major achievement taking into account that due to the unanimity requirement for such decisions only one interpretative Decision had been adopted over the previous two years. The timely adoption of this package will facilitate the preparation of social security institutions for the application of the new Regulations.
The reduction in the number of Decisions and Recommendations also constitutes a considerable simplification which will benefit both the citizens and the social security institutions.
1.2 Which Decisions and Recommendations were included in this package?
The following Decisions and Recommendation were adopted on 12 June 2009.
a)Decision No H1 concerning the framework for the transition from Regulations (EEC) No 1408/71 and No 574/72 to Regulations (EC) No 883/2004 and No […] and the application of Decisions and Recommendations of the Administrative Commission for the coordination of social security systems
This new framework decision lays down the principles of transition from the current Regulations to the new ones with regard to the application of Administrative Commission Decisions and Recommendations. The annexes to this decision indicate the decisions and recommendations which will be replaced or repealed once the new Regulations enter into force.
b)Decision No H2 concerning the methods of operation and the composition of the Technical Commission for Data Processing of the Administrative Commission for the Coordination of Social Security Systems
The revised Rules of Procedure of the Technical Commission have been aligned to the Rules of the AC.
c)Decision No A1 concerning the establishment of a dialogue and conciliation procedure concerning the validity of documents, the determination of the applicable legislation and the provision of benefits under Council Regulation (EC) No 883/2004
This new Decision containsa dialogue and dispute settlement procedure in case of disagreement between institutions on the applicable legislation, such as in posting cases. It provides for the first time for a Community-wide uniform procedure in two stages with clear deadlines.
d)Decision No A2 concerning the interpretation of Article 12 of Council Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 on the legislation applicable to posted workers and self-employed workers temporarily working outside the competent State
This Decision corresponds to the current Decision No 181. The Decision provides clarification and detailed rules on the assessment of the legal requirements by the national competent authorities. It provides also guidance on information duty of national institutions and posted workers and procedure for the cooperation between the competent authorities in the Member States.
e)Decision No S1 concerning the European Health Insurance Card
This Decision corresponds to the current Decisions Nos 189 and 191.
f)Decision No S2 concerning the technical specifications of the European Health Insurance Card
This Decision corresponds to the current Decision No 191.
g)Decision No S3 defining the benefits covered by Articles 19(1) and 27 (1) of Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 and Article 25 (A) (3) of Regulation (EC) No […],
This Decision corresponds to the current Decisions Nos 194, 195 and 196 and aims to clarify in which situations have to be considered as "necessary health care".
h)Decision No P1 on the interpretation of Articles 50(4), 58 and 87 (5) of Regulation No 883/2004 for the award of Invalidity, Old-Age and Survivor's benefits
This Decision gives guidance to institutions on questions such a new automatic pension calculation, notification requirements in relation to the award of a supplement and whether a medical examination is necessary when applying for a review of an invalidity pension.
i)Recommendation P1 concerning the Gottardo judgment, according to which the advantages enjoyed by a State's own nationals under a bilateral convention on social security with a non-member country must also be granted to workers who are nationals of other Member States
This Recommendation corresponds to the current Recommendation No 22 of 18 June 2003.
j)Decision No U1 concerning Article 54(3) of Regulation (EC) No […] relating to increases in unemployment benefit for dependent members of the family
This decision provides details for taking into account family members residing in other MemberState when calculating unemployment benefits (it corresponds to the current Decision No 83).
k)Decision No U2 concerning the scope of Article 65(2) of Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 on the right to unemployment benefits of wholly unemployed persons other than frontier workers who were resident in the territory of a Member State other than the competent Member State during their last period of employment or self-employment
This decision concerns the entitlement to unemployment benefits of cross-border workers (it corresponds to the current Decision No 160).
l)Decision No U3 concerning the scope of the concept of "partial unemployment" applicable to the unemployed persons referred to in Article 65(1) of Regulation (EC) No 883/2004
This decision corresponds to the current Decision No 205. Its scope was extended to cover also self-employed persons.
m)Recommendation No U1 concerning the legislation applicable to unemployed persons engaging in part-time professional or trade activity in a Member State other than the State of residence
This recommendation corresponds to the current Recommendation No 18.
n)Recommendation No U2concerning the application of Article 64(1)(a) of Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 to unemployed persons accompanying their spouses or partners pursuing a professional or trade activity in a MemberState other than the competent State
This recommendation concerns the conditions for the export of unemployment benefits for persons accompanying their partner to other MemberState (it corresponds to the current Recommendation No 21). Its personal scope is broader as it newly covers not only spouses but all partners recognised by the applicable national law.
o)Decision No F1 concerning the interpretation of Article 68 of Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 relating to priority rules in the event of overlapping of family benefits
This decision corresponds to the currentDecision no 207. It concerns the question of whetherthe suspension or interruption of the actual professional activity by reason of holidays, unemployment, temporary incapacity for work, strikes, lock-outs or a person's unpaid leave following the birth of a childis deemed to be qualified as an activity as an employed or self-employed personin the sense of Article 68 with the consequence that the Member State concerned is primarily responsible for paying the family benefits.
p)Decision No E1concerning the practical arrangements for the transitional period for the data exchange via electronic means referred to in Article 4 of Council Regulation (EC) No […]
The new Regulations provide for a transitional period of 24 months for the introduction the electronic exchange of all social security information between Member Stages via EESSI (see also note SSTM 05/09). This new Decisionclarifies the practical measures to be taken by the institutions during this period, in order to ensure that the rights of citizens are safeguarded during this transition. It is based on 10 guiding principles, the most important of which asks institution to proceed with pragmatism and flexibility during this period of change.
p)Rules of the Administrative Commission on the Coordination of Social Security Systems attached to the Commission of the European Communities
The major changes contained in the revised Rules relate to the possibility for the Administrative Commission to establish two new bodies, notably
i) An Operational Board which should assist in particular the Chair in preparing certain agenda points. For a transitional period until the end of the EESSI project in 2011 the Task Force on electronic data exchange will continue to assist the AC in matters related to EESSI.
ii) A Conciliation Boardwhich should assist the AC in reconciling different views of Member States on the interpretation of certain provisions of the new Regulations.
The detailed mandates of both new bodies will be discussed at the 317th meeting of the Administrative Commission on 14-15 October 2009.
The above Decisions and Recommendations of the Administrative Commission are currently available in EN at DG EMPL's website. The publication in all Community languages is envisaged for November 2009.
2. Other major issues dealt with by the Administrative Commission during the reference period
- Follow-UpAd Hoc Group on Fraud and Error
As already reported at the last meeting, the AC set up a follow-up Ad Hoc Group on Combating Fraud and Error with Derek Coulthard as Rapporteur.
The purpose of this new group was to follow up the work of the original group that reported in October 2008.In particular, the mandate of the new group is to analyse the nature and extent of problems concerning fraud and error in the healthcare field, to conduct further research in relation to fraud and error as regards non-notification of deaths and change of residence and to assist the Administrative Commission to draw up a decision in order to strengthen co-operation between the competent institutions in securing the correct application of the Community social security Regulations and more particularly in combating social security benefit & contribution fraud and error in this context.
The follow-up group is expected to report at the 318th meeting of the Administrative Commission in December 2009 and it is expected that a decision of the Administrative Commission will follow from this.
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