EUROPEAN COMMISSION EMPL/- EN
AdvC /03/16Report of the Chair of the Administrative Commission on its activities
SECRETARIAT – 23.09.2016
Orig. EN
ADVISORY COMMITTEE
FOR THE COORDINATION OF SOCIAL SECURITY SYSTEMS
Subject: Report of the Chair of the Administrative Commission on the coordination of social security systems on its activities
Note from the Secretariat of 23 September 2016
1. Introduction
This report covers the main activities of the Administrative Commission since the last meeting of the Advisory Committee on 23 October 2015. The Administrative Commission met on the following dates: 16-17 December 2015, 9-10 March 2016, 20-21 June 2016 and 19-20 October 2016. The Reflection Forum took place on 15 December 2015 (on Family Benefits) and on 8 March 2016 (on Activation Measures). Working Parties were held on 2June 2016 (on the Report of the Ad-Hoc Group on Posting) and on 6 October 2016 (Forum on the International Dimension of social security).
As in previous years, during 2016 the Administrative Commission paid considerable attention to providing social security institutions with the set of tools in order to facilitate their understanding and application of Regulations (EC) No 883/2004 and 987/2009. At the same time, as social security coordination is not isolated from other policy areas, during its meetings the Administrative Commission also analysed and discussed the relationship between social security coordination rules with other legal instruments and international agreements. In addition the Administrative Commission was continued monitoring the overall progress of the EESSI project.
The work of the Administrative Commission has in particular resulted in:
• adoption and entry into force of new decisions to be published in the Official Journal;
• adoption of the Report of the Ad Hoc Group on Posting and the Establishment of a new Ad Hoc Group on Family Benefits;
• adoption of several opinions delivered by the Conciliation Board;
• discussion of other legal and practical issues arising from the application of the social security coordination rules;
• proposals for miscellaneous amendments;
• establishment of a consolidated data collection framework;
• monitoring and progress of the EESSI Project.
2. New Decisions and recommendations of the Administrative Commission
As regards the adoption of new interpretative texts, one new decision has been adopted and two decisions have entered into force:
- Decision No H8 of 17 December 2015 (updated with minor technical clarifications on 9 March 2016) 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
This Decision updates the existing working methods of the Technical Commission to introduce changes to enhance the efficiency of the working methods and to incorporate procedural changes necessitated by the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty. To facilitate ease of reading the decision also integrates the supplementary rules previously set out in an annex into the main text. Once Decision H8 has entered into force, it will supersede the existing rules as set out in Decision H2.
- Entry into force of Decision No F2 of 23 June 2015 and Decision H7 of 25 June 2015
This Decision - reported in note AdvC 03/15 - were published in the Official Journal on 11 February 2016 and entered into force on 2 March 2016.[1]
3. ongoing strategic discussions
3.1. Reflection Forum
Since its creation in 2014, the aim of the Reflection Forum has been to facilitate a reflection process within the Administrative Commission on the long-term perspective of EU social security coordination by providing a structure for the necessary reflection and debate. So far the Forum has proved a very successful initiative and is much appreciated by the Member States.
Family Benefits
On 15 December 2015 the Luxembourgish Presidency organised a Reflection Forum on Family Benefits which focused on a number of key challenges for coordination between Member States, namely:
• The implications of case C-347-12 Wiering;
• Calculation of differential supplement – per child or per family;
• The definition of member of the family;
• Potential need for more detailed coordination rules for specific types of benefits.
Following the active discussion in the Reflection Forum, the Administrative Commission has determined that these issues should be considered in more depth by an ad-hoc-group with aview to preparing recommendations to address the difficulties identified.
Activation Measures
On 8 March 2016, the Dutch Presidency organised a Reflection Forum on Activation Measures. The aim of the meeting was to come to a better understanding of each other’s social security system and to enhance cross-border cooperation. The discussion focussed upon three areas:
• Exchange on new trends and developments in Member States’ activation measures for people with a disability or unemployed persons;
• Practical issues of social security coordination emanating from the interaction between national activation measures and the EU coordination rules;
• Changes in applicable legislation to the activation measures provided in cross-border situations.
The discussion showed a large variety of activation measures at national level, particularly intended to promote and maintain active labour market participation. When it comes to cross-border coordination of activation measures, legal issues have been identified that merit a long-term reflection. In the short term, practical solutions can be agreed upon in bilateral or multilateral cooperation. In conclusion, the Presidency recommended that future Presidencies consider further targeted discussions on activation measures based on the outcome of this Forum and practical examples, and the Administrative Commission to take up questions of interpretation of EU law in the future.
3.2. Working Party on the Report of the Ad-Hoc group on posting issues
An Ad-Hoc group on posting issues was set up by decision of the Administrative Commission of 9 December 2014. It was composed of representatives from 25 Member States. The Ad-Hoc Group’s mandate was not related to the targeted review of the Posting of Workers Directive 96/71/EC, but entirely focused on issues raised in the context of posting within the meaning of Regulation (EC) No 883/2004, such as:
• The establishment of a standardised procedure for the issuance and the possible withdrawal of PD A1s (certificates concerning the social security legislation which applies to the holder);
• The dialogue and conciliation procedure laid down by Decision A1 of the Administrative Commission of 12 June 2009;
• The so-called ‘replacement ban’ laid down in Article 12(1) of Regulation (EC) No 883/2004;
• The procedure for determining the applicable legislation in case of employment in more than one Member State.
The Ad-Hoc Group submitted its final report in May 2016. The report was subject to discussion at a dedicated Working Party meeting held on 2 June 2016 where the recommendations of the Group found widespread support. The Administrative Commission in its June meeting therefore mandated the Secretariat to submit, at its next meeting in October, a roadmap for the implementation of the recommendations made in the report.
4. Statistical data collection
In its meeting of 20-21 June 2016, the Administrative Commission welcomed the reports on cross-border health-related issues (the use of the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC), of Portable Document S2 (authorisation to obtain planned health treatment in another EU or EFTA country) and healthcare reimbursement for the reference year 2015, presented by the Network of experts on statistics on Free Movement of Workers and Social Security Coordination.
Statistical reports on the export and aggregation of unemployment benefits, family benefits, cross-border pensions, and Portable Document S1 (entitlement to healthcare if the person does not live in the country of insurance) were presented to the Administrative Commission at its meeting of 19-20 October 2016.
Reports on Portable Document A1, fraud and error, and the recovery procedure are planned to be presented to the Administrative Commission in December 2016.
5. Miscellaneous amendments
The Administrative Commission discussed requests for technical amendments to the social security coordination rules submitted by the Member States’ delegations, agreed that anumber of them should be proposed by the Commission for adoption by the European Parliament and the Council, and requested that the Commission amend certain entries into annexes to the coordination rules by way of Commission Regulation.
6. Electronic Exchange of Social Security Information
The Administrative Commission continued monitoring and steering the EESSI project throughout 2015 and 2016, following recommendations of the Technical Commission and supported by the EESSI Executive Board.
Throughout this period, the EESSI project progressed in the executing phase, which covers the development of three subsequent iterations of the IT platform called Pilot Builds before making available an Integration Ready Release to the Member States planned by the end of 2016, and the development of the first Production Ready Release during the first half of 2017. The first and second Pilot Builds were developed and successfully tested internally by the Commission services and externally by a number of Member States who volunteered to assist the project in testing the IT platform. Currently the development of the third Pilot Build is ongoing and expected to be tested internally and externally before the end of 2016.
A number of key decisions were taken by the Administrative Commission, including the approval of the Architecture Pack version 1.0 as the basis for the development of the EESSI system, the approval of the EESSI Business Layer Requirements, and the approval of 85 Business Use Cases which document the business processes needed for the social security coordination activity (subject to the approval of 46 Business Use Cases planned for the October 2016 meeting of the Administrative Commission, in addition to the 39 already approved at the time of writing of this report) out of a total of 118 Business Use Cases planned to be approved by the end of 2016.
7. Enhanced Cooperation under the new Regulations
8.1. The European Platform to combat social security fraud and error
One of the key features of the new social security coordination rules is enhanced cooperation between Member States and between institutions in the Member States. The Administrative Commission is the channel dedicated to support the exchange of good practices and reflect on common tools. In that regard, there is on-going co-operation between Member States in implementing the Decision H5 of the Administrative Commission which established national contact points (NCPs) to assist cooperation on fraud and error in the implementation of the Regulations.
This year, the Commission launched a new online forum: the European Platform to combat social security fraud and error, hosted on the Commission's server. The aim of this platform is to further facilitate communication and to exchange best practice between NCPs. The work of the new platform is supported by a Steering Committee comprising of representatives nominated by the Member States who as part of their annual work programme will support the work of the NCPs and foster greater cooperation between the work of NCPs and their respective institutions and the Administrative Commission. The outcomes of the annual conference of NCPs on 17-18 October 2016 will be reported to the Administrative Commission at its 349th Meeting in December 2016.
8.2. Conciliation Board
A number of opinions submitted by the Conciliation Board have been adopted by the Administrative Commission with respect to the following disputes:
a) A dispute between Belgium and Gibraltar (case CB-1/15) concerning the posting of IT-experts by an employment agency in Gibraltar to Belgium: the Conciliation Board found that the posting conditions were not fulfilled and that the A1 certificates issued should be withdrawn.
b) A dispute between Austria and Poland (case CB-2/15) concerning the posting of Polish international transport drivers from a Polish subsidiary to the Austrian parent company: the Conciliation Board concluded that even in such a constellation, the Polish subsidiary might still fulfil the legal conditions for being regarded as “registered office” or “employer” within the meaning of Article 13 of Regulation (EC) No 883/2004, provided certain conditions are fulfilled.
c) A dispute between Austria and Hungary (case CB 4-15) concerning the replacement prohibition: the Conciliation Board came to the conclusion that the replacement prohibition laid down in Article 12 of Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 applies even in situations where the posted workers were employed by different companies. In the light of this interpretation, the Hungarian institutions agreed to consider a withdrawal of the A1 certificates issued.
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[1] http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=OJ:C:2016:052:TOC