On Wednesday 30 November, EU Member States will confirm their political agreement on the European Commission’s recommendation on adequate minimum income and active inclusion.
Since the text is not yet legally ready for endorsement, it will be a matter of legally approving this agreement later in the EU Council formation, although there is some doubt as to whether this will be done under the Czech Presidency.
The recommendation proposed by the European Commission at the end of September (see EUROPE 13031/21) calls on Member States to ensure that their basic social safety nets, the various social minima, are adapted to the cost of living, while at the same time allowing beneficiaries to be encouraged to return to work or to remain in employment – in other words, not to lose their allowance immediately upon their return to work.
It also calls on Member States to ensure that social minima are not used as an excuse for employers to keep workers on very low wages.
The Member States’ text is substantially amended in a number of respects. Thus, in Article 18, they detail the language on in-kind benefits, which “can complement monetary benefits by facilitating access to specific services such as early childhood education and care (in accordance with Council Recommendation establishing a European Child Guarantee), healthcare and long-term care, social housing, employment and training as well as to essential services”.
The provision of these in-kind benefits can help put into context the assessment of how adequate the income support is. Certain in-kind benefits provided through targeted schemes and supporting general consumption (e.g. food vouchers or compensation for costs that are directly linked to housing, including lower energy rates) for people without sufficient resources may be taken into account when assessing the adequacy of income support, to the extent that these benefits directly contribute to improving the situation of minimum income recipients, said Member States.
In Article 21, with regard to the adequacy of minimum incomes, the EU Council adds that “given the disparities in adequacy across countries, Member States should achieve adequate levels of the overall income support in a progressive manner”.
With regard to the eligibility of members of the public who may receive minimum incomes, the EU Council text also adds a reference to the fact that the introduction of, for example, “non-discriminatory criteria for access to a minimum income shall not affect exceptions from equal treatment stipulated or permitted by Union law, such as Directive 2004/38/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council”.
Another change is that of addressing gaps in coverage by means of minimum incomes. The EU Council amends and clarifies the text regarding verification of resources.
Where the Commission also proposes a 30-day deadline for a decision on a claim, the EU Council notes that this decision “is issued without unnecessary delay and in practice not later than 30 days from its submission”.
“The envisaged time limit of 30 days to process the application from its submission can be interrupted in case of necessity to establish all facts provided that, where possible, persons lacking sufficient resources receive appropriate provisional assistance”.
A further addition states: “Fiscal consolidation measures that result in the reduction of protection levels rather than improving the effectiveness of the schemes should only be used as last resort option and accompanied by a distributional impact assessment to mitigate adverse effects on the most disadvantaged”. The level of protection should “in any case remain adequate”.
Link to the text of the agreement: https://aeur.eu/f/4c9 (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)