Proposal for a Council Regulation amending and updating Regulation (EEC) No 1408/71 on the application of social security schemes to employed persons, to self-employed persons and to members of their families moving within the Community and Regulation (EC) No 574/72 laying down the procedure for implementing Regulation (EEC) No 1408/71

(96/C 249/03)

(Text with EEA relevance)

COM(96) 318 final - 96/0170(CNS)

(Submitted by the Commission on 11 July 1996)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Articles 51 and 235 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission of the European Communities,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament,

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee,

Whereas, for the sake of coherence and clarity, it is appropriate to adapt the wording of certain provisions of Council Regulation (EC) No 1408/71 of 14 June 1971 on the application of social security schemes to employed persons, to self-employed persons and to members of their families moving within the Community (1) and of Council Regulation (EEC) No 574/72 of 21 March 1972 laying down the procedure for implementing Regulation (EEC) No 1408/71 on the application of social security schemes to employed persons, to self-employed persons and to members of their families moving within the Community (2), and to delete other provisions that have become invalid and superfluous; whereas these amendments are of an exclusively technical nature, intended to improve the said Regulations;

Whereas since the latest updating of Regulations (EEC) No 1408/71 and 574/72 through Council Regulation (EEC) No 2001/83 of 2 June 1983 (3) several amendments have been made and whereas it is therefore appropriate, in order to render the relevant Community rules more transparent and accessible, to adopt a new updated version of the abovementioned Regulations, in the form of a single text for each of the Regulations (EEC) No 1408/71 and (EEC) No 574/72, which appear in Parts I and II respectively of Annex A; whereas it is also apportune already to present, in an appendix to Part II of this Annex, the text of Article 95 of Regulation (EEC) No 574/72, as amended by Regulation (EC) No 3095/95 (4), which will apply as from 1 January 1998 or, in relations with the French Republic, from 1 January 2002;

Whereas the former Article 106 of the EC Treaty, concerning the balance of payments, was repealed by the Treaty on European Union and the new Article 73b (2) of the Treaty mentioned first prohibits any restrictions of payments among the Member States;

Whereas, in order to attain the objective of free movement for workers in the field of social security, it is necessary and appropriate that the rules relating to the coordination of national social security schemes should be amended through a Community legal instrument that is binding and directly applicable in each Member State;

Whereas this is in conformity with Article 3b of the Treaty,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Regulation (EEC) No 1408/71 shall be amended as follows:

1. Article 82 shall be amended as follows:

- the present text of paragraph 4 shall be replaced by the following:

'4. The Advisory Committee shall be chaired by a representative of the Commission of the European Communities. The chairman shall not vote.`

- the second subparagraph of paragraph 7 shall be replaced by the following:

'The Committee shall, by a majority of its members, draw up its rules of procedure which shall be approved by the Council, after receiving the opinion of the Commission of the European Communities.`

2. the first sentence of Article 88 shall be amended as follows:

'Where appropriate, money transfers effected in accordance with this Regulation shall be made in accordance with the relevant agreements in force between the Member States concerned at the time of transfer (. . .).`

3. Article 100 shall be deleted.

Article 2

Regulation (EEC) No 574/72 shall be amended as follows:

1. The second subparagraph of Article 107 (1) (b) shall be replaced by the following:

'The rate for the conversion into a national currency of amounts denominated in another national currency shall be the rate calculated by the Commission of the European Communities and based on the monthly average, during the reference period specified in paragraph 2, of rates of exchange of such currencies which are communicated to it for the application of the European Monetary System.`

2. Article 122 shall be replaced by the following:

'Annexes 1, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 to the implementing Regulation may be amended by a Regulation of the Commission of the European Communities at the request of the Member States or Member States concerned or their competent authorities after the opinion of the Administrative Commission has been obtained.`

Article 3

The title, recitals, table of contents and provisions of Regulations (EEC) No 1408/71 and (EEC) No 574/72 shall be replaced by the text contained in Annex A Parts I and II respectively, which take account of the amendments laid down in this Regulation.

Annex B contains the list of amending acts to the Regulations referred to in the foregoing paragraph.

Article 4

This Regulation shall enter into force on the first day of the month following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

(1) OJ No L 149, 5. 7. 1971, p. 2. Regulation last amended by Regulation (EC) No 3096/95 (OJ No L 335, 30. 12. 1995, p. 10).

(2) OJ No L 74, 27. 3. 1972, p. 1. Regulation last amended by Regulation (EC) No 3096/95 (OJ No L 335, 30. 12. 1995, p. 10).

(3) OJ No L 230, 22. 8. 1983, p. 1.

(4) OJ No L 335, 30. 12. 1995, p. 1.

ANNEX A (*)

PART I

Council Regulation (EEC) No 1408/71 of 14 June 1971 on the application of social security schemes to employed persons, to self-employed persons and to members of their families moving within the Community

PART II

Regulation (EEC) No 574/72 laying down the procedure for implementing Regulation (EEC) No 1408/71 on the application of social security schemes to employed persons, to self-employed persons and to members of their families moving within the Community

Appendix

ANNEX B (*)

List of acts amending Regulations (EEC) No 1408/71 and (EEC) No 574/72

(*) To be published later in the 'L` series of the Official Journal of the European Communities.

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