Brussels, 31/05/2013 (Agence Europe) - Slovakia will be taken before the EU Court of Justice for failing to pay certain healthcare allowances to Slovaks living abroad who are seriously disabled. The decision to begin this procedure was taken by the European Commission on Thursday 30 May.
As is so often the case in this kind of situation, the Commission invokes Regulation No 883/2004 on the coordination of social security systems. The Slovak legislation is considered not to be in line as three Slovakian health care benefits for severely disabled persons, namely the carer's allowance, the disability allowance and the cash allowance to make up for the extra cost of assistance, are not paid to Slovaks living outside Slovakia. The Commission takes the Court's case-law as a basis for affirming that these categories of allowances can be associated to sickness benefits. That, however, is precisely the argument that Slovakia refutes. (JK/transl.jl)