23.1.78 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 18/19 
Opinion on the proposals for: 
— a Council Regulation amending Regulations (EEC) No 1408/71 and (EEC) No 574/72 
on the application of social security schemes to employed persons and their families 
moving within the Community 
— a Council Regulation amending the Annexes to Regulations (EEC) No 1408/71 and 
(EEC) No 574/72 on the application of social security schemes to employed persons 
and their families moving within the Community 
The text referred to the Committee has been published in Official Journal of the 
European Communities No C 171 of 19 July 1977, page 2. 
A. LEGAL BASIS FOR THE OPINION 
On 14 July 1977 the Council referred the abovementioned proposal to the Economic 
and Social Committee in accordance with Article 198 of the Treaty establishing the 
European Economic Community. 
B OPINION OF THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE 
The Economic and Social Committee prepared its opinion on the above matter at its 
152nd plenary session held in Brussels on 26 and 27 October 1977. 
The full text of the opinion is as follows: 
THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE, 
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the 
European Economic Community, and in particular 
Article 198 thereof, 
Having regard to the request for an opinion made 
by the Council on 14 July 1977, 
Having regard to the decision taken by its chairman 
on 31 August 1977 — in accordance with Article 22 
of the Rules of Procedure — instructing the Section 
for Social Questions to draw up an opinion and a 
report on the matter, 
Having regard to the opinion issued by the Section 
for Social Questions at its meeting on 13 October 
1977, 
Having regard to the report submitted by the 
rapporteur, Mr Purpura, 
Having regard to the discussions at its 152nd plenary 
session held on 26 and 27 October 1977, (meeting 
of 26 October), 
Whereas social security schemes for employed 
persons and their families moving within the 
Community are governed by Council Regulation 
(EEC) No 1408/71 of 14 June 1971 and by 
implementing Regulation (EEC) No 574/72 of 
21 March 1972; 
Whereas Regulations (EEC) No 1408/71 and (EEC) 
No 574/72 have since been amended and amplified by a series of Community laws, including Regulation 
(EEC) No 1392/74 of 4 June 1974 and Regulation 
(EEC) No 1209/76 of 30 April 1976; whereas 
Regulation (EEC) No 574/72 has also been amended 
by Regulation (EEC) No 2639/74 of 15 October 
1974; 
Whereas steps should be taken to improve migrant 
workers' rights and amend some of the rules on 
the allocation of the costs of benefits between the 
social security institutions of the nine Member 
States; 
Whereas steps should also be taken to amend a 
number of points in various Annexes to Regulations 
(EEC) No 1408/71 and (EEC) No 574/72 in order 
to take account of (a) recent Agreements concluded 
between some Member States and (b) changes made 
by Member States in the allocation of responsibility 
among their social security authorities and institu­
tions for implementing the above Regulations, 
HAS ADOPTED THE FOLLOWING OPINION 
unanimously: 
The Committee approves the two proposals 
amending Regulations (EEC) No 1408/71 and (EEC) 
No 574/72, subject to the following general and 
specific comments. The latter are concerned with 
individual Articles. 
No C 18/20 Official Journal of the European Communities 23.1. 78 
General comments 
1. The Committee reiterates its keen interest in 
the social security arrangements for. employed 
persons and their families moving within the 
Community. The Committee has repeatedly expressed 
its interest in this matter, both in opinions on 
proposals for specific social security regulations and 
in opinions on the annual report on the social 
situation in the Community. 
1.2. The Committee considers that the gradual 
but continous refinement of Community social 
security regulations is not only compatible with the 
aims of the Treaty but also makes it considerably 
easier in practice for workers to take jobs in other 
Member States. 
1.3. Whilst appreciating the Commission's steadfast 
work in this specialized, delicate field, the Committee 
calls once more for the removal of the remaining 
obstacles to freedom of movement in the Community 
and urges that Member v States should provide 
identical social security cover for their own nationals 
and for migrants from other Member States. 
1.4. The Committee would like to remind the 
Commission of its 1977 action programme (point 78) 
which states that during the second half of 1977 it 
intended to submit to the Council 'a draft Regulation 
on the coordination of social security schemes for 
self-employed workers moving within the 
Community'. The Committee urges the Commission 
to submit this draft Regulation as soon as possible. 
Such a Regulation would extend social security cover 
to all Community residents and would effectively 
implement the right of establishment of self-
employed persons, as provided for in Article 52 
et seq. of the EEC Treaty. 
Specific comments 
In the light of the above, the Committee would now 
like to offer some reflections on the individual 
proposals. 
2. Amendments to the Regulations proper 
2.1. The first amendment concerns Article 14 (3) 
of Regulation (EEC) No 1408/71. In its present form 
this Article does not secure automatic insurance 
cover for workers who are drawing a pension from 
one Member State but who are employed in another 
Member State where pensioners are exempt from 
compulsory social insurance. 2.1.2. In view of the restrictions which the 
existing provision places on Community arrangements 
on social security, the Committee endorses the 
proposed amendment which gives workers already 
drawing a pension from one Member State the right 
to obtain insurance cover while they are working 
in another Member State. The amendment would 
enable workers to obtain maximum insurance cover 
within the Community, which is the aim underlying 
Articles 49, 51 and 118 of the Treaty, particularly 
in respect of harmonization. 
2.2.1. The proposed amendments to Articles 21 
and 22 of Regulation (EEC) No 1408/71 relate to 
sickness and maternity benefits paid to members of 
a worker's family who are normally resident in a 
Member State other than the one where the worker 
is employed but who are temporarily staying in 
another Member State. 
2.2.2. The Committee endorses both amendments 
which seek to ensure a more even share-out of the 
costs of sickness and maternity benefits paid to 
dependants who normally reside in a Member State 
other than the one where the head of household 
works, but who are temporarily staying in another 
Member State. 
2.3.1. The Committee further takes note of the 
insertion of a new paragraph 3 in Article 40 of 
Regulation (EEC) No 1408/71. This amendment sets 
the formal seal of approval on the way some 
institutions have been interpreting this particular 
provision. When calculating entitlement to invalidity 
pensions under certain schemes, these institutions 
have in practice been taking into consideration not 
only periods during which the disabled worker has 
drawn sickness benefit or continued to be paid a 
wage or salary, but also periods during which he 
has drawn invalidity benefits under other schemes. 
2.3.2. Nevertheless, the amended provision has 
its limits in that Belgium and the United Kingdom 
will take into consideration periods during which 
invalidity pensions have been drawn only if the 
condition which is responsible for the incapacity 
qualifies as invalidity under their own legislation. 
The Committee therefore hopes that formal endorse­
ment of the practice described above will not lead 
to restrictive interpretations of criteria previously 
applied by institutions in the light of the general 
principles of social security regulations. 
2.3.3. The Committee would also like to refer 
to the opinion of 28 March 1974 on the proposals 
for a Regulation amending Council Regulations 
23.1. 78 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 18/21 
(EEC) No 1408/71 and (EEC) No 574/72 and, more 
recently, the opinion of 30 October 1975 on the 
action programme in favour of migrant workers and 
their families. Paragraph 8.2.5.8 of this action 
programme stresses the need 'to align social security 
law at national level, at least in respect of invalidity 
evaluation, as part of the overall approximation 
provided for in Article 118 of the Treaty'. 
2.4.1. The second sentence of Article 44 (2) of 
Regulation (EEC) No 1408/71 gives a worker who 
has lodged a claim for the award of a pension from 
one Member State the right to require 'postponement 
of the award of old-age benefits to which he is 
entitled under the legislation of one or more Member 
States, provided that the periods completed under 
that legislation or those legislations are not taken 
into account for the purpose of acquiring the right 
to benefit in another Member State'. 
2.4.2. The dropping of the final clause of Article 
44 (2) (from 'provided that'), removes the restriction 
implicit in the original wording and the worker 
is now at liberty to choose the time which suits 
him best for claiming benefits which have accrued 
to him in the individual Member States. The 
Committee therefore fully endorses the proposed 
amendment. 
2.5.1. The proposed addition to Article 46 (2) 
(award of benefits) is necessary because of the 
insertion of the new Article 40 (3) dealt with above. 
The Committee notes and endorses the amended 
version of Article 46 (2). 
2.6.1. The Committee approves the proposed 
amendments to Articles 4 (10), 23 and 93 of 
Regulation (EEC) No 574/72. They are entirely 
consistent with the proposed amendments to Articles 
14 (3), 21 (2) and 22 (3) of Regulation (EEC) 
No 1408/71. 
2.6.2. The Committee also endorses the amend­
ment to Article 9 (2) of Regulation (EEC) No 574/72 
whereby the word 'worker' is replaced by 'the 
deceased person'. Under the amended arrangements 
not only the surviving dependants of workers but 
also the surviving dependants of pensioners would 
be entitled to death grants. 
Done at Brussels, 26 October 1977. 3. Proposed amendments to the Annexes to the 
Regulations 
3.1.1. The Commission has also submitted a 
proposal to amend the Annexes to Regulations 
(EEC) No 1408/71 and (EEC) No 574/72. The 
Committee considers that some of the amendments 
follow directly from the amendments to the 
Regulations proper and are calculated to implement 
the new arrangements. 
3.1.2. The Committee notes the amendments to 
Annex V(H) (the Netherlands) to Regulation (EEC) 
No 1408/71. It is proposed to amend subparagraph 
(b) and to insert a new subparagraph (c). Let us 
deal first with subparagraph (b). As the law stands 
at the moment, persons resident in the Netherlands 
and drawing a Dutch old-age pension are entitled to 
pay reduced voluntary sickness insurance contribu­
tions. The amendment to H (b) is designed to 
extend this facility to persons drawing Dutch old-age 
pensions but residing in another Member State. 
Subparagraph (c) lays down the rules for determining 
the contributions payable by persons (other than 
those drawing Dutch old-age pensions) insured under 
the Dutch voluntary sickness insurance scheme but 
residing in another Member State. Due allowance 
is made for the peculariaties of Dutch sickness 
insurance arrangements. The Committee further 
recognizes that the new wording of H (a) of Annex V 
is designed to make the Netherlands responsible for 
paying the cost of any sickness benefits in kind to 
married women whose husbands draw a Dutch old-
age pension for married persons, even if the women 
concerned are also drawing an old-age pension from 
another Member State. 
3.1.3. The Committee finally notes the amend­
ments to Annexes 2 and 7 to Regulation (EEC) 
No 574/72. These are necessary because the 
Netherlands and Luxembourg have recently 
appointed new bodies to administer some of the 
provisions of the Regulations. The Committee also 
notes the amendment to Annex 5 to Regulation 
(EEC) No 574/72, which refers to various agreements 
between Member States mutually waiving reimburse­
ment of benefits. 
The Chairman 
of the Economic and Social Committee 
Basil de FERRANTI