The European Parliament seems to maintain its position on the proposals of the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the EU on the Regulation on the coordination of social security systems, according to a note consulted by EUROPE on Friday 8 March.
As a reminder, on Friday 1 March the Presidency submitted a "package" of proposals to Parliament, which included two concessions to the European Parliament: the export of social benefits after 6 months and pre-affiliation to national security 3 months before a worker (employed or self-employed, but with derogations) is sent to another Member State (see EUROPE 12206/13). Following an unsuccessful negotiating session on Tuesday 5 March, Parliament's negotiating group informed the Presidency that it would return with a series of proposals (see EUROPE 12208/15).
These would seem to remain essentially the same. The European Parliament could accept the abandonment of the principle of "free choice" (the frontier worker could choose the Member State responsible for social benefits and monitoring, depending on the Parliament's position) in favour of the Council of the EU's position (the State responsible is the State of the place of activity).
However, where the Council of the EU wishes the responsibility to be transferred to the State of employment after 3 months of activity, Parliament proposes to extend this period to 9 months in order to extend the contribution period so that social benefits can be paid until all rights have been exhausted.
Regarding pre-affiliation, Parliament accepts the Council of the EU's proposals, but would like clarification on the competent authority responsible for derogations.
On the applicable legislation, the European Parliament would like to delete the addition of the wording of the exemption in Article 15 which provides for "duly justified exceptional circumstances". In addition, the Parliament would be prepared to accept an interruption period of 2 months after 24 months of posting before it could be sent back to the same State.
As for pluriactivity, the Parliament continues to express reservations about the criteria for determining the State responsible for the services; they would be based on the place of activity of the company, the place where administrative documents are stored, the place where financial transactions are carried out or the place of residence of the main directors.
The co-legislators will meet during the next negotiating session scheduled for Tuesday, March 12. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)