Empl-2005-02598-00-00-En-Tra-00 (Fr)

EUROPEAN COMMISSION EMPL/02598/2005 – EN SS.TM. 02/05 Minutes of the 36th meeting of the Advisory Committee MINUTES – 18.10.2005 Orig. EN-FR Trad 18.01.06

ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON SOCIAL SECURITY FOR MIGRANT WORKERS Minutes of the 36th meeting Brussels, 18 October 2005

CONTENTS PAGES

1. Adoption of the agenda 2

2. Approval of the minutes of the 35th meeting 3

3. Report by the Chair of the Advisory Committee on changes to Community legislation which have been made or are in progress 4

4. Report by the Chair of the Administrative Commission on Social Security for migrant workers (CASSTM) on the work of the CASSTM 6

5. Report on the decisions of the Court since the previous meeting of the Advisory Committee 7

6. Report on developments in the programme of the Technical Commission 9

7. The European Health Insurance Card – one year after its introduction 10

8. Report on the state of play with regard to the enlargement process 11

9. Presentation of COWEBS, the portal on the social security rights of mobile citizens 13

10. Presentation of TRESS (network on Training and Reporting in Social Security) 14

11. Other business 15

List of participants 16

-1- SS.TM. 02/05 Minutes of the 35th meeting of the Advisory Committee Adoption of the agenda

1. Adoption of the agenda

Note SS.TM. 1/05

The agenda was adopted.

-2- SS.TM. 02/05 Minutes of the 36th meeting of the Advisory Committee Approval of the minutes of the 35th meeting

2. Approval of the minutes of the 35th meeting

Note SS.TM. 2/04

All language versions of the agenda were adopted.

-3- SS.TM. 02/05 Minutes of the 36th meeting of the Advisory Committee Report by the Chair of the Advisory Committee on changes to Community legislation which have been made or are in progress

3. Report by the Chair of the Advisory Committee on changes to Community legislation which have been made or are in progress

Note SS.TM. 3/04

The Secretariat pointed out that Regulation (EC) No 647/2005 (various amendments 2003) had been adopted, with the vast majority of the Member States agreeing to the Commission’s proposal to draw the appropriate conclusions from the recent case law of the Court and reduce the number of entries in Annex IIa to Regulation 1408/71. Only three Member States had not agreed. The Commission had reserved the right to refer the matter to the Court of Justice of the European Communities for further clarification, and did so on 26 July 2005.

The Secretariat continued by presenting a number of different legislative proposals which were being finalised: it announced that the proposal for an implementing regulation would be adopted at the beginning of 2006 following the adoption of the basic Regulation (Regulation 883/2004). The Commission was also due to present another legislative proposal at the same time, i.e. Annex XI to Regulation 883/2004. The proposals for decisions of the Association Councils concerning the coordination of social security schemes were also being finalised. In this context, the Secretariat pointed out that the extension of Regulation 1408/71 to nationals of third countries (Regulation 859/2003) did not apply to Denmark because of the legal basis which had been selected (Title IV of the EC Treaty) and an ad hoc solution would have to be found. Finally, the proposal for a Regulation concerning “various amendments” was due to be submitted at the end of 2005.

In response to a question from the Austrian employers’ representative concerning access to information and the publication programme, the Secretariat pointed out that the short guide had just been updated and translated into all the languages. The large guide containing information on the national law of the Member States would be updated shortly. Finally, work had been done on the website concerning the coordination of social security schemes.

The representative of the German government asked the Secretariat about the agreements with the small countries (Monaco, Andorra, San Marino). The Secretariat said that contacts had already been established, in particular with Andorra, but that they had not yet been placed on a firm footing because of reservations on the part of Andorra.

-4- The Secretariat pointed out that Regulation 883/2004 was not yet applicable and would not become so until the date on which the implementing regulation came into force (i.e. not before 2007).

-5- SS.TM. 02/05 Minutes of the 36th meeting of the Advisory Committee Report by the Chair of the Administrative Commission on Social Security for Migrant Workers (CASSTM) on the work of the CASSTM

4. Report by the Chair of the Administrative Commission on Social Security for migrant workers (CASSTM) on the work of the CASSTM

Note SS.TM. 4/05

The Chair of the Administrative Commission informed the Advisory Committee regarding the activities of the CASSTM during the period October 2004 to June 2005 (i.e. the 294th to the 297th meeting of the Administrative Commission). The Chair gave an overview of the activities of the past 12 months under the Dutch and Luxembourg Presidencies. In particular, she stressed the work accomplished by the Administrative Commission in the field of the European Health Insurance Card. She mentioned the seminar held in Luxembourg on the recognition of child-raising periods in other Member States in the context of pension insurance, as well as the joint Working Party of the Administrative Commission and Technical Commission, which was held on 18 February 2005 and concerned the electronification of the European Health Insurance Card and the electronic exchange of data and information between institutions, which is – as she underlined – an extremely important task.

The Chair finally congratulated the members of the Administrative Commission for showing that they were able to unanimously adopt decisions concerning very complex issues.

Replying to a question from the German employers’ representative with regard to "the European Centre of Reference" project (ECR), the Secretariat said that this issue was being dealt with by the High Level Group on Patient Mobility. For the time being, no definition of the ECR had been adopted. The work of the Administrative Commission in this field was limited to examining the possible procedures for the assumption of responsibility for the cost of health care provided in ECRs.

-6- SS.TM. 02/05 Minutes of the 36th meeting of the Advisory Committee Report on the decisions of the Court since the previous meeting of the Advisory Committee

5. Report on the decisions of the Court since the previous meeting of the Advisory Committee

Note SS.TM. 5/05

The Secretariat presented its note on the case law adopted on this subject during the judicial year 2004-2005. During this period, 23 judgments on social security had been handed down by the Court of Justice of the European Communities.

The Secretariat went on to group the main judgments by subject and give a brief analysis of the main cases. This was followed by a short description of the facts and an analysis of their main implications.

 Family benefits:

Case C-469/02, Commission -v- Belgium, judgment of 7 September 2004. Case C-302/02, Effing, judgment of 20 January 2005. Case C-249/04, Allard -v- Institut national d'assurances sociales pour travailleurs indépendants, judgment of 26 May 2005. Case C-543/03, Christine Dodl -v- Tiroler Gebietskrankenkasse, judgment of 7 June 2005.

 Sickness benefits:

Case C-193/03, Betriebskrankenkasse der Robert Bosch GmbH -v- Bundesrepublik Deutschland, judgment of 14 October 2004. Case C-145/03, Keller -v- INSS, judgment of 12 April 2005.

 Pensions:

Case C-386/02, Baldinger -v- Pensionsversicherungsanstalt der Arbeiter, judgment of 16 September 2004. Case C-101/04, Noteboom -v- Rijksdienst voor Pensioenen, judgment of 20 January 2005. Case C-227/03, van Pommeren-Bourgondiën -v- Raad van bestuur van de Sociale verzekeringsbank, judgment of 7 July 2005.  Supplementary pensions: Case C-341/03, Commission -v- Greece, judgment of 7 October 2004 (Directive 98/49/EC)  Pensions of Community officials: Case C-293/03 My -v- Office national des pensions, judgment of 16 December 2004.

-7-  European citizenship:

Case C-456/02, Michel Trojani -v- Centre public d'aide sociale de Bruxelles, judgment of 7 September 2004. Case C-258/04, Ioannidis, judgment of 15 September 2005.  Judgments of the EFTA Court:

Case Tsomakas Athanasios -v- The Norwegian State, 14 December 2004.

 European Court of Human Rights:

Decision on the admissibility of STEC and others -v- United Kingdom (6/7/2005)

The representative of the German government said that he would prefer the judgments to be listed alphabetically for the sake of clarity. He also said that this information, which was drawn up by the Secretariat each year, was extremely useful.

In response to a question from the Italian employers’ representative, the Secretariat expressed the view that the case law based on the idea of citizenship which had been presented would not change the system for coordinating social security schemes as it currently stood.

-8- SS.TM. 02/05 Minutes of the 36th meeting of the Advisory Committee Report on developments in the programme of the Technical Commission

6. Report on developments in the programme of the Technical Commission

Note SS.TM. 6/05

The representative of the British Presidency reported on the latest developments in the work of the Technical Commission. Mention was made of activities to ensure that the new Member States are integrated as quickly as possible into the work of the Technical Commission.

Reference was also made to the launch of the COWEBS portal, which would be presented afterwards.

The same applied to the preparation of the new implementing regulation and the close working relationship established between certain experts on the Technical Committee and those drawing up the draft text.

Finally, reference was made to the work of the Technical Commission with a view to the introduction of an electronic European health insurance card.

-9- SS.TM. 02/05 Minutes of the 36th meeting of the Advisory Committee The European Health Insurance Card – one year after its introduction

7. The European Health Insurance Card – one year after its introduction

Note SS.TM. 07/05

The Secretariat introduced its note on the assessment of the introduction of the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC). It said that the introduction of the EHIC had taken place without major problems. In particular, a large number of cards had been issued compared to the number of E-forms issued previously over a similar period of time.

The main challenge identified as regards the use of the EHIC was the implementation of Regulation 631/04 concerning the alignment of rights and the simplification of procedures. Some Member States were concerned about the validity period of the EHIC (often issued for a relatively long period, for several years in some cases) and possible misuse of the card by persons who were no longer insured in the Member State which issued the card. The Administrative Commission therefore amended Decision 170 by adopting Decision 203, with the result that the authorities were now permitted to withdraw the EHIC in such situations.

More information about the EHIC can be found on the website of DG EMPL.

-10- SS.TM. 02/05 Minutes of the 36th meeting of the Advisory Committee Report on the state of play with regard to the enlargement process

8. Report on the state of play with regard to the enlargement process

Note SS.TM. 8/05

The Secretariat presented its note, adding the following new information:

Turkey and Croatia: Negotiations had been opened on 3 October 2005 and the screening process would start in early 2006. With Turkey, negotiations were expected to last at least 10 years. Unlike previous accessions, the Commission would actually check whether the candidate countries fulfilled all the necessary conditions. In the social security field, this meant checking whether the necessary administrative structures were in place.

Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM): The Commission would submit its opinion on the start of accession negotiations on 9 November 2005.

"European Neighbourhood Policy": A new instrument for increased political, security, economic and cultural cooperation for countries in the Mediterranean, Eastern European and South Caucasus regions. It would be implemented by action plans.

In response to questions from the ETUC representative, the Secretariat provided the following information by way of clarification: (1) As regards social security, the action plans of the European Neighbourhood Policy provided for the full implementation of the social security provisions of the respective association or partnership agreements. (2) During the expected 10 years of negotiations with Turkey, two instruments already offered protection in social security matters: Regulation 859/2003 applied to third- country nationals legally residing in a Member State and finding themselves in a cross- border situation, while Turkish nationals could rely on the equal treatment clause of Article 3 of Decision 3/80 on which the European Court of Justice ruled that no cross- border situation was needed. (3) Following on from the meeting of the High Level Group on 12 September 2005, the Commission would present a report on the transitional measures for free movement of workers in January 2006: its legal part A would describe the measures and actions undertaken by Member States and the Commission, while the statistical part B would describe migration flows. For this, the Commission relied on the input from Member States which proved problematic in some cases. The Council would then take a decision on this report.

The Secretariat pointed out that the comment by the Portuguese trade unions' representative (on the difficulty of ensuring solidarity between the old and the new Member States

-11- because of the failure to increase the budget for the cohesion and structural funds) was a political and horizontal question for which the Advisory Committee was not competent. The observer acting on behalf of the Romanian employers expressed his gratitude for being given the opportunity to participate and hoped for a positive Commission report on the situation in Romania regarding social security for migrant workers.

The Italian trade unions' representative was worried about the effects of the transitional measures on the export of unemployment benefits. She also enquired about how Member States applied the so-called 12-months rule.

The Secretariat stressed that despite the transitional measures, Regulation 1408/71 applied in full. However, the export of unemployment benefits under Article 69 depended on whether a jobseeker was allowed to register in a Member State. During the transitional period, this depended also on the national law of the old Member State concerned because Article 69 did not provide for any right to move to another Member State to look for work there. However, it was clear that a person who had worked for at least 12 months in an old Member State had acquired the right to full access to that labour market and was entitled to unemployment benefits in that Member State. Even if a worker from a new Member State had worked for less than 12 months in an old Member State, the Commission was of the opinion that if such a worker had acquired the necessary periods of insurance for entitlement to unemployment benefits he should nevertheless be able to export these benefits under Article 69 at least to his country of origin.

-12- SS.TM. 02/05 Minutes of the 36th meeting of the Advisory Committee Presentation of COWEBS, the portal on social security rights of mobile citizens

9. Presentation of COWEBS, the portal on the social security rights of mobile citizens

Mr De Lathouwer, the COWEBS project manager, presented the recent developments of the COWEBS portal. The objective of COWEBS, a multi-language portal, was to provide citizens moving between Member States with clear information on their social security rights in a user-friendly way. The pilot programme currently involved seven Member States (Germany, Spain, France, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands and the UK) and concerned only the pension field at this stage. The portal contained information on three levels: common portal content, specific portal content and national portal content. The next step was the gradual integration of the current non-participant Member States into the project through the pension field, as well the gradual extension of the portal to other sectors of social security.

In response to a question of the ETUC representative, the Secretariat clarified that there is no overlap between the COWEBS project and EURES as they had different objectives. While EURES advised citizens on social security matters, amongst many other fields, COWEBS focused on social security matters and was designed both for citizens and national institutions. Coordination of social security was such a complex field that it required a special tool.

The representative of the UK government stressed that the COWEBS portal was a very useful instrument which could help citizens find out about their social security rights when moving within the European Union.

Finally, the Secretariat pointed out that, at this stage, COWEBS was only a pilot project. It was in the interests of everyone that COWEBS became a common tool. A first public address of the portal would soon be available.

-13- SS.TM. 02/05 Minutes of the 36th meeting of the Advisory Committee Presentation of TRESS (network on Training and Reporting in Social Security)

10. Presentation of TRESS (network on Training and Reporting in Social Security)

Yves Jorens , professor at the University of Ghent and coordinator of the project, outlined the objectives of the TRESS network — a three-year project financed by DG EMPL and managed by the University of Ghent in collaboration with independent experts from the 25 Member States.

The aim of the project was to improve knowledge of the coordination of social security schemes and create networks of individuals (staff of national administrations, judges, social partners, NGOs, independent experts) dealing with the application of regulations in the 25 Member States. The project was also designed to inform the European Commission about problems with the application of regulations in the Member States.

For this purpose, seminars were held in each of the 25 Member States in order to provide training on regulations for people involved in their application; teaching material would also be developed.

A website had been created in order to make information available on coordination (www.tress-network.org).

An annual report would be drawn up by the independent experts in order to inform the European Commission about problems encountered with the application of regulations in the Member States.

The representative of the UK government pointed out that the target groups of the COWEBS and TRESS projects were different: the COWEBS project sought to inform members of the public about their rights, while TRESS was designed to provide information to people responsible for applying the regulations on the coordination of social security schemes.

The representative of the ETUC was pleased that TRESS responded to the demand expressed previously for a network of experts which Euroadvisers could contact. She wanted the Euroadvisers to have access to the TRESS database.

-14- SS.TM. 02/05 Minutes of the 36th meeting of the Advisory Committee Other business

11. Other business

There were no issues raised under this item.

-15- SS.TM. 02/05 Minutes of the 36th meeting of the Advisory Committee Annex – List of participants Orig. EN/FR

List of participants

at the 36th meeting of the Advisory Committee on Social Security for migrant workers Brussels, 18 October 2005

GOVERNEMENT REPRESENTATIVES

BELGIQUE/BELGIË Ms Geneviève PIETQUIN Service Public Fédéral Sécurité Sociale

ČESKÁ REPUBLIKA Mr Jíří BAUER Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs Ms Gabriela PIKOROVÁ Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs

DANMARK Not represented

DEUTSCHLAND Mr Arno BOKELOH Bundesministerium für Gesundheit und Soziale Sicherung

EESTI Ms Inga PRONINA Ministry of Social Affairs of Estonia

ΕΛΛΆΔΑ (ELLÁDA) Not represented

ESPAÑA Ms Marta VIVES CABALLERO Subdirección General de Ordenación y Asistencia Jurídica de la Seguridad Social

FRANCE Mr Jean-Claude FILLON Ministère de l'Emploi, du Travail et de la Cohésion Sociale

-16- Mr Louis RANVIER Ministère de l'Agriculture

IRELAND Mr Joan GORDON Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs

ITALIA Ms Enza AMATO Ministero del Lavoro e delle Politiche Sociali Mr Francesco RONFINI Veneto Regional Governments

ΚΎΠΡΟΣ (KYPROS) Ms Eleni PAROUTI Ministry of Health

LATVIJA Ms Inara BARANOVSKA Ministry of Welfare Ms Renata ORLOVA Permanent Representation of Latvia to the EU

LIETUVA Ms Janina ANDRIUSKEVICIUTE Ministry of Health Ms Vida PETRYLAITE Ministry of Social Security and Labour Ms Rita ŽEMAITYTĖ Permanent Representation of Lithuania to the EU

LUXEMBOURG Mr Romain EWERT Ministère de la Sécurité Sociale

MAGYARORSZÁG Mr Balázs LENGYEL National Health Insurance Fund

MALTA Mr Frankie MICALLEF Ministry for the Family and Social Solidarity

NEDERLAND Mr Laurens MINEUR Ministerie van Volksgezondheid, Welzijn en Sport Ms Christel VAN TILBURG Ministerie van Sociale Zaken en Werkgelegenheid

-17- ÖSTERREICH Mr Manfred PÖLTL Bundesministerium für Soziale Sicherheit und Generationen

POLSKA Ms Elżbieta ROŻEK Ministry of Economy, Labour and Social Policy

PORTUGAL Ms Elisabete SOUSA SILVEIRA Departamento de Acordos Internacionais de Segurança Social

SLOVENIJA Not represented

SLOVENSKO Mr Jaroslav KOVÁČ Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family Ms Magdaléna LACOVÁ Ministry of Health Ms Daniela PIVOVAROVÁ Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family

SUOMI/FINLAND Ms Terhi VALTONEN Sosiaali- ja terveysministeriö

SVERIGE Mr Bjarne ALMSTRÖM Riksförsäkringsverket

UNITED KINGDOM Ms Anna HUDZIECZEK Department for Work and Pensions

OBSERVERS – CANDIDATE COUNTRIES

БЪЛГАРИЯ (BĂLGARIJA) Ms Dobrinka BONEVA Ministry of Labour and Social Policy Ms Petya MALAKOVA Ministry of Labour and Social Policy Ms Rozalina PETROVA Permanent Representation of Bulgaria to the EU

ROMÂNIA Ms Mihaela MATEI Ministry of Labour

-18- TRADE UNIONS' REPRESENTATIVES

BELGIQUE/BELGIË Ms Celien VANMOERKERKE FGTB

ČESKÁ REPUBLIKA Ms Jaroslava BAUEROVÁ Czech-Moravian Confederation of Trade Unions

DEUTSCHLAND Ms Renate GABKE Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund

EESTI Not represented

ΕΛΛΆΔΑ (ELLÁDA) Mr Marinos DIMITROULOPOULOS GSEE Mr Apostolos KOKKINOS GSEE

ESPAÑA Ms Maria Pilar ROC ALFARO Union General de Trabajadores

FRANCE Not represented

IRELAND Not represented

ITALIA Ms Gina TURATTO INCA-CGIL

ΚΎΠΡΟΣ (KYPROS) Not represented

LATVIJA Not represented

LIETUVA Not represented

-19- LUXEMBOURG Mr Eduardo DIAS OGB-L Confédération syndicale indépendante Mr Vincent JACQUET LCGB

MAGYARORSZÁG Not represented

MALTA Mr John BENCINI Confederation of Malta Trade Unions (CMTU)

NEDERLAND Mr Ger ESSERS FNV

ÖSTERREICH Not represented

POLSKA Not represented

PORTUGAL Mr Carlos Manuel dos ANJOS ALVES União Geral de Trabalhadores (UGT) Mr Carlos Manuel ALVES TRINDADE Confederação Geral dos Trabalhadores Portugueses (CGTP-IN)

SLOVENIJA Not represented

SLOVENSKO Ms Zdena DVORANOVÁ Confederation of Trade Union of the Slovak Republik Ms Mária SVOREŇOVÁ Confederation of Trade Union of the Slovak Republik

SUOMI/FINLAND Ms Mirja JANÉRUS Suomen Ammattiliittojen Keskusjärjestö SAK ry Mr Jorma SKIPPARI Toimihenkilökeskusjärjestö STTK ry

SVERIGE Ms Ellen NYGREN Landsorganisationen i Sverige

-20- UNITED KINGDOM Ms Elena CRASTA Trades Union Congress

OBSERVERS Ms Claude DENAGTERGAL European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC)

EMPLOYERS' REPRESENTATIVES

BELGIQUE/BELGIË Ms Marie-Louise STORM AGORIA, representing FEB Mr Ivo VAN DAME VBO-FEB

ČESKÁ REPUBLIKA Mr Vladislav LÁNSKÝ Union of Employers' Associations of the the Czech Republic Mr Jíří SVOBODA Union of Czech and Moravian Producer Co-operatives

DEUTSCHLAND Mr Volker HANSEN Bundesvereinigung der Deutschen Arbeitgeberverbände

EESTI Ms Gerli JÕGI Estonian Employers´ Confederation Ms Victoria METS Estonian Employers´ Confederation

ΕΛΛΆΔΑ (ELLÁDA) Mr Lambros PAPAIOANNOU Federation of Greek Industries

ESPAÑA Not represented

FRANCE Ms Marie-Christine FAUCHOIS Union des Industries et Métiers de la Métallurgie (UIMM)

-21- IRELAND Ms Jean WINTERS CIF

ITALIA Mr Armando OCCHIPINTI Confapi

ΚΎΠΡΟΣ (KYPROS) Not represented

LATVIJA Ms Elīna EGLE Latvian Employers' Confederation Mr Imants JANSONS Latvian Employers' Confederation

LIETUVA Not represented

LUXEMBOURG Not represented

MAGYARORSZÁG Ms Terézia BOROSNÉ BARTHA Confederation of Hungarian Employers and Industrialists Mr Károly G. TÓTH STRATOSZ

MALTA Mr Lawrence MIZZI MEA Mr Emanuel SAID FOI

NEDERLAND Not represented

ÖSTERREICH Mr Martin GLEITSMANN Wirtschaftskammer Österreich

POLSKA Mr Michał GAWRYSZCZAK Biuro Konfederacji Pracodawców Polskich (KPP)

PORTUGAL Mr Nuno BISCAYA Confederação da Indústria Portuguesa (CIP)

-22- SLOVENIJA Ms Urška JEREB ZDODS

SLOVENSKO Mr Jozef ORGONÁŠ Slovak Association of Commerce and Tourism

SUOMI/FINLAND Mr Mikko RÄSÄNEN Elinkeinoelämän keskusliitto EK

SVERIGE Not represented

UNITED KINGDOM Not represented

OBSERVERS

ROMÂNIA Mr Doru-Claudian FRUNZULÌCĂ Uniunea Generala a Industriasilor din România (U.G.I.R.)

OBSERVERS Ms Lorena IONITA UNICE

EUROPEAN COMMISSION

Mr Rob CORNELISSEN Head of Unit, DG EMPL/E/3 Ms Hélène MICHARD Deputy Head of Unit, DG EMPL/E/3 Ms Juliane BAUMANN DG EMPL/E/3 Ms Isabelle GAUDEL-EHRHART DG EMPL/E/3 Ms Monika HOCHHEIM DG EMPL/E/3 Mr Antero KIVINIEMI DG EMPL/E/3 Mr Ricardo LLOPIS CARRASCO DG EMPL/E/3

-23- Mr Prodromos MAVRIDIS DG EMPL/E/3 Ms Carine PIGEON DG EMPL/E/3 Mr Robert SEIBOLD DG EMPL/E/3 Mr Jörg TAGGER DG EMPL/E/3 Ms Els VERTONGEN DG EMPL/E/3

Contractors: Mr Guy DE LA THOUWER SIEMENS Mr Yves JORENS TRESS, Ghent University

The meeting was chaired by Mr CORNELISSEN.