Select Committee on European Scrutiny Twenty-Fifth Report


4 Coordination of social security schemes

(27262)

5896/06

COM(06) 16

Draft Regulation laying down the procedure for implementing Regulation (EC) No. 883/2004 on the coordination of social security schemes

Legal baseArticles 42 and 308 EC; co-decision; unanimity
DepartmentWork and Pensions
Basis of considerationSEM of 30 March 2006
Previous Committee ReportHC 34-xx (2005-06), para 11 (1 March 2006)
To be discussed in CouncilJune 2006
Committee's assessmentPolitically important
Committee's decisionNot cleared; further information awaited

Background

4.1 At present, the EC legislation on the coordination of social security schemes so as to protect the rights of peoples moving within the Community is contained in a Regulation adopted in 1971.[5] The Regulation has been amended many times since then to take account of changes in Member States' social security schemes and the judgements of the European Court of Justice.

4.2 In 2004 the Council adopted a new Regulation to simplify and modernise the Regulation of 1971.[6] It requires another Regulation to bring it into effect.

Previous scrutiny of the implementing Regulation

4.3 In March, we considered the draft of the Regulation to implement the Regulation of 2004.[7]

4.4 The draft provides, for example, for:

  • the payment of benefits on a provisional basis while a dispute awaits resolution about which Member State is liable to provide the benefits;
  • the criteria for resolving disputes about the Member State in which a person is resident;
  • rules on the aggregation of periods of insurance that a person has accrued in more than one Member State;
  • the obligations of employers to pay the social security contributions required by the applicable national legislation; and
  • the recovery of benefits paid unduly or in excess.

4.5 The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department of Work and Pensions (Mr James Plaskitt) told us that the provisions of the draft Regulation are technical and complex. While he did not expect that they would raise many policy issues, it would be necessary to complete a detailed assessment of all the Articles before reaching a firm view. He would send us a Supplementary Explanatory Memorandum before the end of March.

The Supplementary Explanatory Memorandum

4.6 The Minister tells us that negotiations on the draft Regulation have only just begun. The effect of the proposals will become clearer as the discussions proceed.

4.7 The Minister says that Article 44 (periods of child rearing) is, potentially, the most significant proposal in the draft Regulation. He explains that:

    "In response to recent case-law from the European Court of Justice, the Commission has included a provision by which a Member State could have to provide pension provision for periods of child-rearing, even though the family has moved to live in a different Member State. We did not consider that the case-law affected Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP) and S2P [State Secondary Pension] protection but the draft provision (Article 44) is widely drawn and could impact on HRP and S2P protection. This would affect cases where a parent had been insured in the UK and then moves to another Member State without working there. We would normally expect UK liability to cease at the time of the move unless a UK benefit continued to be paid to the person. This new provision may imply that child-rearing protection must continue to be provided for as long as our legislation would normally provide it to a UK resident."

The Minister says that during the detailed negotiations on Article 44, the impact it would have on the UK will become clearer.

4.8 There are a number of matters of lesser importance on which the Government will be seeking clarification or amendments. The Minister offers to provide us with progress reports on the negotiations.

Conclusion

4.9 We are grateful to the Minister for his helpful Supplementary Explanatory Memorandum. We should be grateful if he would keep us informed about the discussions on Article 44 (periods of child rearing). We also look forward to receiving the progress reports the Minister has offered to send us. We shall keep the draft Regulation under scrutiny while we await this further information.


5   Regulation (EEC) No.1408/71: OJ No. L 149, 5.7.1971, p.2. Back

6   Regulation (EC) No. 883/2004: OJ No. L 166, 30.4.2004, p.1. Back

7   See headnote. Back


 
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