CO-ORDINATION OF SOCIAL SECURITY WITH
TUNISIA
(21199)
7965/00
COM(00) 216
| Draft Decision on the position of the Community within the Association Council concerning implementation of Article 65 of the EU-Tunisia Euro-Mediterranean Association Agreement.
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| Legal base:
| Articles 65-68 of the EC-Tunisian Association Agreement;
unanimity
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| |
| Document originated:
| 13 April 2000 |
| Forwarded to the Council:
| 14 April 2000 |
| Deposited in Parliament:
| 10 May 2000 |
| Department: |
Social Security |
| Basis of consideration:
| EM of 22 May 2000 |
| Previous Committee Report:
| None, but see (20891-8) (20913-4) 5234/00-5243/00:
HC 23-ix (1999-2000), paragraph 2 (16 February 1999) and
HC 23-xv (1999-2000), paragraph 1 (19 April 2000)
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| To be discussed in Council:
| No date known |
| Committee's assessment:
| Legally and politically important
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| Committee's decision:
| Not cleared; further information requested
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Background
3.1 On 16 February and 19 April 2000 we reported[9]
on proposals for the co-ordination of social security arrangements
between the Community and certain accession countries. The proposals
were put forward in pursuance of European Agreements with each
of the countries concerned. The proposals went wider than the
specific provisions in the relevant articles in the Agreements.
This was deliberate in that the Commission saw the proposals as
a stepping stone towards the accession countries joining the Community,
when they would be expected to take on board the full co-ordination
of social security (under Regulation 1408/71) as part of the acquis.
The Government argued that the proposals should not go wider than
was expressly provided for in the Agreements. In our Report of
19 April, we noted that the issue of the scope of the legal base
remained unresolved. We said that "we accept that the Minister's
approach is arguable but, on the other hand, see the force of
the Commission's broader interpretation of the legal base. We
therefore wonder whether underlying the legal argument, there
are political or financial objections to a comprehensive co-ordination
of social security systems." We left the documents uncleared
and asked the Minister to continue to keep us in touch with developments
on the legal point and progress of the documents generally.
The document
3.2 The Association Agreement between the Community
and Tunisia contains provisions for co-ordination of social security
systems similar to those in the Agreements with certain accession
states.
3.3 The Commission has now proposed implementation
of those provisions. It says that the purpose of the Agreement
is to provide Tunisian workers with protection along the lines
of that provided for European citizens under Regulation 1408/71,
but that the Agreement does not set out to treat workers in as
favourable a manner as the Regulation does.
The Government's view
3.4 In her Explanatory Memorandum of 22 May 2000,
the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Social
Security (Angela Eagle) says that the Government is willing to
implement those provisions which are expressly provided for in
the Agreement but, as with the earlier proposals relating to accession
countries, the Commission's proposals go wider than the terms
of the Agreement. She notes that the Commission provides no explanation
for this — the argument based on prospective accession does
not apply to Tunisia. She says the UK will be pursuing this issue
in discussion on the proposal.
Conclusion
3.5 This proposal raises essentially similar
issues to those we considered in relation to certain of the accession
countries. We have nothing to add to the earlier Reports to which
we referred in paragraph 3.1 above. We leave this document uncleared
and ask the Minister to keep us in touch with developments on
the legal point and progress of this document generally.
9 (20891-8) (20913-4) 5234/00-5243/00: see headnotes
to this paragraph. Back
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