Brussels, 19/05/2003 (Agence Europe) - the Council has formally adopted the Regulation on extending to third-country nationals, currently excluded on account of their nationality, the provisions of Regulation 1408/71EEC on the application of social security schemes to employed persons and their families moving within the Community.
Employment and Social Affairs Ministers reached a political agreement on this draft regulation on 3 December 2002, which aimed to grant rights as similar as possible to those enjoyed by Union citizens to third-country nationals legally resident in the Community and who satisfy the other conditions provided for in Regulation 1408/71/ECC. It follows on from the request made by the Tampere European Council (October 1999) for the status of third-country nationals to be approximated to that of Member States nationals (see EUROPE 4 December 2002).