24. 5. 88 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 134/1 
II 
(Preparatory Acts) 
ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE 
Opinion on the proposal for a Council Regulation (EEC) amending 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 (EEC) No 574/72 laying down the procedure for implementing Regulation (EEC) 
No 1408/71 
(88/C 134/01) 
On 22 February 1988 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, 
under Article 100 of the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, on the 
abovementioned proposal. 
The Section of Social, Family, Educational and Cultural Affairs, which was responsible for 
preparing the Committee's work on the subject, adopted its Opinion on 10 March 1988, in 
the light of the report by Mr Pearson. 
At its 254th plenary session (meeting of 23 March) the Economic and Social Committee 
adopted the following Opinion by a majority with one abstention. 
1. The Committee endorses the proposal in view of 
the following: 
1.1. This current Regulation is made necessary 
because of the standardization of the system for paying 
family benefits. A dual system for paying family benefits 
currently exists (Art. 73 and 74 of Regulation (EEC) 
1408/71). The criterion of 'the country of employment' 
is used by all Member States with the exception of 
France, where the criterion of 'the country of residence' 
is used. This is deemed to be discriminatory on the 
grounds of nationality, and was originally intended 
only to be a temporary compromise in 1971, when an 
exception was made for France where residency in 
France was necessary to receive family benefit payments 
from France. If the family members did not reside with 
the worker in France, then no family benefit was due. 
If the members of the family resided outside France in 
another Member State, then the payments were made 
under the legislation of that Member State, and reim­
bursement arrangements agreed under Article 75 of the 
Regulation. It is desirable that the criterion of 'the 
country of employment' which guarantees equal treat­
ment be used by all Member States, and that the cri­
terion of 'country of residence' be eliminated. 1.2. The European Community has been enlarged to 
enclude Greece, Spain and Portugal since the original 
compromise was agreed. 
1.3. The European Court of Justice (!) delivered a 
judgement in the 'Pinna' case which rendered null and 
void Article 73(2) of Regulation (EEC) No 1408/71, and 
deemed that the criterion of residence of members of 
the family was discriminatory, and that its use was 
incompatible with Articles 48-51 of the EEC Treaty. 
Although Article 51 of the Treaty provides for the 
coordination of the legislation of the Member States, 
and not the harmonization, this dual system of paying 
family benefits must be eliminated to achieve the objec­
tive of securing free movement of workers within the 
Community (Art. 48 to 51) and achieving the internal 
market by 1992. 
1.4. The Regulation (EEC) No 1408/71, and the 
implementing procedures 574/72, which refer to the 
application of social security schemes have been amend­
ed to include the self-employed since the original 
compromise. 
(') Judgement of 15 January 1986. 
No C 134/2 Official Journal of the European Communities 24. 5. 88 
1.5. Article 75, paragraph 2 of the Regulation which 
deals with reimbursements of family benefits will no 
Done at Brussels, 23 March 1988. 
The Committee approves the Commission proposal 
subject to the following considerations: 
1. General comments 
1.1. The present Commission proposal constitutes 
an important step in the direction of finally getting 
around to removing barriers to trade in such important 
fields as radio and television, domestic appliances, elec­
tronic engineering etc. These barriers arise both from 
deliberate administrative red-tape and from lack of 
formal harmonization of technical specifications. 
1.2. The proposed Directive in the Committee's 
opinion stands every chance of removing a substantial 
number of these costly barriers to trade and to inno­
vation. 
1.3. The Commission, however, is asked to review 
the wording of the Directive's escape clause (Art. 6). 
The Committee, though agreeing that certain dero­
gations are called for in special cases, proposes that in 
order to avoid abuse of such broad terms as 'public 
service stations or emergency operations' a system be 
established under which the final decision lies explicitly 
with the Commission. The Commission, within a cer-
0) OJNoC322, 2. 12. 1987, p. 4. longer be necessary. Because of the complexity arising, 
it had not, in any case, received unanimous approval. 
The Chairman 
of the Economic and Social Committee 
Alfons MARGOT 
tain deadline, will thus have to decide whether a certain 
special measure as communicated by a Member State 
does indeed constitute a justified derogation in the 
public interest or whether is an unwarranted barrier to 
trade. Police frequencies do for example at present in 
one Member State constitute a de facto barrier to trade 
seemingly without any public service justification. If 
Member States are required only to inform the Com­
mission of these measures such barriers are unlikely to 
change. 
1.4. The Committee furthermore invites the Com­
mission to publish the special measures taken by a 
Member State in the Official Journal in order to guaran­
tee easy access to this information for manufacturers 
and importers. It is equally important that the date 
from which these measures will be implemented is 
given. To avoid excessive cost the Committee suggests 
that a parallel system to the one that is to be established 
in the public works sector be introduced, i.e. a publi­
cation in full (in the original language) in the Official 
Journal (or since the sector covered by this Directive is 
heavily English oriented) in English; with a summary 
of important elements to be published in the other 
official languages of the Community, the original text 
alone being authentic. Opinion on the proposal for a Council Directive on the approximation of the laws of the 
Member States relating to electromagnetic compatibility (*) 
(88/C 134/02) 
On 25 November 1987 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, 
under Article 100 A of the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, on the 
abovementioned proposal. 
The Section for Industry, Commerce, Crafts and Services, which was responsible for preparing 
the Committee's work on the subject, adopted its Opinion on 2 March 1988. The rapporteur 
was Mr Noordwal. 
At its 254th plenary session (meeting of 23 march 1988) the Economic and Social Committee 
unanimously adopted the following Opinion.