On Thursday 27 April, the European Court of Justice decided that the legal authorities or jurisdictions of a member state cannot refuse to recognise an A1 certificate (former E101 formula) awarded by another member or associated state as long as the certificate has not been withdrawn or declared invalid.
In the preliminary ruling before the European judges (C-620/15), the French authorities contested the validity of this certificate (attesting that a foreign worker active in a member state is subject to the Social Security regime of the country where the undertaking employing them has their company HQ) awarded by the Swiss authorities (although it is not part of the EU, the rules governing the A1/E101 certificate also apply to Switzerland) to employees in the Swiss subsidiary of a German sailing company operating exclusively in French national waters.
The French authorities take the view that the employees in question were not demonstrably posted workers and should have been declared with the French Social Security bodies, given that they had been specifically recruited to work aboard boats permanently operating in France. The French appeals court therefore requested whether, under these conditions, the French authorities were beholden to the E101 certificates awarded by Switzerland.
The Court explained that in all circumstances, the E101 certificate awarded by another member state is incumbent on the authorities in the country where the worker is exercising their work, even if it is clear that the worker question is not a genuine posted work. As long as this certificate is not withdrawn or declared invalid, these authorities cannot submit the worker in question to their own Social Security regime and do not have the authority to verify the validity of the certificate awarded by the worker’s country of origin.
The judges, explained, that the procedures that exist (dialogue or cooperation between the appropriate authorities of these two countries), are covered by the appropriate administrative committee or, as a last resort, if this is not the case, by the European Court of Justice for obtaining the withdrawal or invalidation of the certificates in question. (Original version in French by Francesco Gariazzo)