Jordi Currell, Director responsible for Labour Mobility and International Relations (DIR E) in the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion (DG EMPL), reported progress in the implementation of the European Social Security Pass (ESSPASS) pilot project, but remained cautious about Member States’ “real appetite” for the project, at a hearing in the European Parliament’s Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL) on Thursday 28 April.
In his speech, the Director explained that one of the main objectives of this pilot project was to assess the “real appetite” of the Member States. For example, he mentioned the commitment of Germany and France alongside Italy, the only Member State really committed to the project. Asked by Dutch EPP MEP Jeroen Lenaers, the senior official said that 13 Member States were now involved in the pilot project to varying degrees. He recalled that these commitments were not necessarily full commitments.
At present these are Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Poland, and Sweden. Mr Currell announced that eight more Member States had expressed their intention to participate in the project in February.
These include Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Ireland, Lithuania, Hungary, Norway and Romania (as a reminder, Regulation 883/2004 on the coordination of social security systems also covers the Member States of the European Economic Area - EEA). It will be a “listening mode” participation, he said.
Asked about the European Commission’s choice of technology -blockchain- Mr Currell confirmed that he still believes this is the way forward. However, the appropriateness of this choice remains to be confirmed on the ground in the pilot project, he added, acknowledging that the European Commission was not “100% sure”.
EESSI. The official also welcomed the progress made on the Electronic Exchange of Social Security Information (EESSI), indicating that 80% of exchanges between national administrations now take place through this platform. He acknowledged that there was still room for full implementation, despite a 10-year delay in the original timetable.
Both MEPs and the European Commission have high hopes for the success of this pilot project, as the digital solution would be a possible, if not the only, way to break the deadlock in the negotiations on the Regulation on the coordination of social security systems, which has so far fallen into limbo after another rejection of the provisional interinstitutional agreement in the EU Council (see EUROPE 12859/10). (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)