Regulation (EC) No 988/2009 of the European Parliament and of the CouncilShow full title

Regulation (EC) No 988/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council

of 16 September 2009

amending Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 on the coordination of social security systems, and determining the content of its Annexes

(Text with relevance for the EEA and for Switzerland)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Articles 42 and 308 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee(1),

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty(2),

Whereas:

(1) Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on the coordination of social security systems(3) provides for the content of Annexes II, X and XI to that Regulation to be determined before its date of application.

(2) Annexes I, III, IV, VI, VII, VIII and IX to Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 should be adapted in order to take into account both the requirements of the Member States which have acceded to the European Union since that Regulation was adopted and recent developments in other Member States.

(3) Articles 56(1) and 83 of Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 provide for special provisions for the implementation of the legislation of certain Member States to be set out in Annex XI to that Regulation. Annex XI is intended to take account of the particularities of the various social security systems of Member States in order to facilitate the application of the rules on coordination. A number of Member States have asked for entries concerning the application of their social security legislation to be included in this Annex and have provided the Commission with legal and practical explanations of their legislation and systems.

(4) In accordance with the need for rationalisation and simplification, a common approach is needed in order to ensure that entries in respect of different Member States which are of a similar nature or pursue the same objective are in principle dealt with in a similar manner.

(5) As the aim of Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 is to coordinate social security legislation for which Member States are exclusively responsible, entries which are not compatible with its purpose or objectives, and entries seeking solely to clarify the interpretation of national legislation, should not be included in that Regulation.

(6) Some requests raised issues that were common to several Member States: it is therefore appropriate to deal with those issues at a more general level, either by clarification in the body of Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 or in another of its Annexes, which should therefore be amended accordingly, or through a provision in the implementing Regulation referred to in Article 89 of Regulation (EC) No 883/2004, rather than by inserting similar entries in Annex XI for several Member States.

(7) Article 28 of Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 should be amended in order to clarify and extend its scope and to ensure that the members of the family of former frontier workers may also benefit from the possibility of continuing medical treatment in the former country of employment of the insured person after his/her retirement, unless the Member State where the frontier worker last pursued his/her last activity is listed in Annex III.

(8) It is appropriate to assess the significance, frequency, scale and costs relating to the application of the restriction of rights to benefits in kind for members of the family of frontier workers under Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 for those Member States still listed in that Annex 4 years after the date of application of that Regulation.

(9) It is also appropriate to deal with certain specific issues in other Annexes to Regulation (EC) No 883/2004, according to their purpose and content, rather than in Annex XI thereto, in order to ensure consistency in the Annexes to that Regulation.

(10) Some Member States’ entries in Annex VI to Regulation (EEC) No 1408/71 of the Council(4) are now covered by certain general provisions in Regulation (EC) No 883/2004. Consequently, a number of entries in Annex VI to Regulation (EEC) No 1408/71 have become superfluous.

(11) In order to facilitate the use of Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 by citizens when asking for information or making claims to the institutions of the Member States, references to the legislation of the Member States concerned should also be made in the original language wherever necessary in order to avoid any possible misunderstanding.

(12) Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 should therefore be amended accordingly.

(13) Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 provides that it is to apply from the date of entry into force of the implementing Regulation. This Regulation should therefore apply from the same date,

HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATON:

(1)

OJ C 161, 13.7.2007, p. 61.

(2)

Opinion of the European Parliament of 9 July 2008 (not yet published in the Official Journal), Council Common Position of 17 December 2008 (OJ C 33 E, 10.2.2009, p. 1) and Position of the European Parliament of 22 April 2009. Council Decision of 27 July 2009.

(3)

OJ L 166, 30.4.2004, p. 1.

(4)

OJ L 149, 5.7.1971, p. 2.