Coordination of social security systems

Key points

The EESC concluded that:

• the proposal for a new Regulation on the coordination of social security systems should be aimed at facilitating the movement of jobseekers and workers, not restricting it;
• the aim of this exercise should be to achieve a fair balance between home and host countries;
• the new rules do not establish a new entitlement to long-term care in every Member State, as this depends on the existence of such services in the host country;
• the terminology uses in the proposal for the revision of the Regulation on Social Security Coordination with the use of the Posting of Workers Directive;
• the proposed requirement to work at least 3 months in the host Member State before a worker can qualify for unemployment benefits will delay the "aggregation of periods" giving the right to benefits;
• it is unclear how the proposal to extend the period for "exporting" unemployment benefits from the current 3 to at least 6 months can provide employment opportunities for jobseekers, as this will depend on the labour market situation;
• greater convergence in terms of benefits, aggregation and activation would help improve and facilitate the coordination of social security systems.
• the public employment services (PES) ought to be more effective in supporting mobile jobseekers to find suitable work;
• there is need for a stronger commitment on the part of the Member States to facilitate the option of allowing mobile citizens who are economically inactive to contribute to a scheme for health coverage in the host Member State and to consider the advantages of receiving mobile citizens in general, which contribute to the economy and cultural diversity of the host country;
• nothing in the proposed new rules should restrict the fundamental rights recognised in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.