LABOUR MOBILITY PACKAGE
One of the important principles and objectives of the EU is the freedom of movement of persons between Member States. Only by ensuring that persons moving within the EU do not suffer disadvantages in their social security rights will this freedom be of any value. Primary EU law (Article 48 TFEU) and secondary legal acts, set out in Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 and the Implementing Regulation (EC) No 987/2009, coordinate the Member States’ social security schemes. The EU legislation does not replace the different national social security systems, but coordinates them in situations with an intra-EU cross-border element. EU Regulations coordinate cross-border aspects of 31 different social security systems of the EU Member States, plus Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Switzerland. With the upcoming enlargement of the EU (Croatia), the number will increase to 32 national systems.
The present initiative is a partial revision of the Regulations (EC) Nos 883/2004 and 987/2009 on coordination of social security schemes, focusing in particular on an in-depth revision of two areas of social security coordination (see further below). Removing the obstacles to mobility of European citizens is a priority of the Barroso Commission. It has been highlighted on several occasions in the recent years (European Year Workers Mobility 2006, the EP report on citizenship 2009, the Monti report on the Single Market, President’s Barroso political guidelines, Commission Work Programme 2013) that despite the important legal acquis in the area of free movement of workers, European citizens still face problems and obstacles, when moving across borders within the EU. In line with this priority, the Commission issued a policy communication in April 2012 (‘Employment package’), in which the Commission identified the EU’s biggest job potential areas and the most effective ways for Member States to create more jobs. Among other objectives, the employment package also aims to contribute to a genuine EU labour market.
The EU regulatory instruments in the area of social security coordination, which are necessary for the smooth operation of the intra-EU mobility and the functioning of the EU labour market, date back to 1950’s and have been amended on numerous occasions in order to take into account developments at EU level, changes at national level and rulings of the Court of Justice.
Modernised social security coordination rules started to apply in May 2010, when Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 replaced previous Regulation (EEC) No 1408/71. The legislative process for the modernised rules lasted over 10 years. During this period, the Court of Justice delivered a number of important rulings, two EU enlargements took place and the socio-economic situation both in the EU as a whole and in individual Member States changed considerably. Both the Member States and the Commission have the obligation to make sure the Regulations
are still fit to meet today’s needs and reflect the developments in national and EU legislation, the case-law of the Court of Justice and the socio-economic context. Possibilities for simplification should also be considered.
Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 strengthened the principles of coordination and brought improvements in many social security branches, but despite of efforts made during the negotiations aimed at simplifying and modernising Regulation (EEC) No 1408/71, in two areas of social security coordination the modernisation
process did not lead to the expected results – namely in the area of coordination of unemployment benefits and long-term care benefits. The present initiative covers the substantial revision of these two social security areas in order to complete the modernisation process, which was initiated more than two decades ago.
This initiative is also linked to the objectives of « Europe 2020 – A strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth » (COM(2010)2020), which calls for the EU to: – encourage mobility and for European citizens to make more use of their freedom of movement. – ensure that a vulnerable part of the EU population is enabled to live in dignity and is not exposed to the risk of poverty when exercising the right of free movement.
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