Keywords

Summary



Keywords

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1. Social security for migrant workers ° Sickness insurance ° Worker going to another Member State ° Retention of entitlement to benefits ° Limited to a three-month period ° Extension not requested but application for benefits lodged shortly before the expiry of the period with the institute of the place of stay ° Obligation of the competent institution to examine the possibility of an extension

(Council Regulations Nos 1408/71, Art. 25(1) and (4), and 574/72, Art. 26(6))

2. Social security for migrant workers ° Sickness insurance ° Worker going to another Member State ° Retention of entitlement to benefits ° Limited to a three-month period ° Extension ° Force majeure ° Concept ° Appraisal by the competent institution of the circumstances of the case

(Council Regulation No 1408/71, Art. 25(4))

Summary

1. Article 25(4) of Regulation No 1408/71 requires the competent institution to decide on a request for the extension of the period in respect of which sickness benefits are payable to an unemployed person who has availed himself of the option of going to a Member State other than the competent State in order to seek employment there, even though that request has not been made expressly by that person but may be inferred from an application for cash sickness benefits lodged shortly before the expiry of the period referred to in Article 25(1) of the regulation with the sickness insurance institution of the place where the unemployed person has gone.

Neither Article 25(4) of Regulation No 1408/71 nor Article 26(6) of Regulation No 574/72 requires the unemployed person to lodge a formal application for extension of the period in respect of which sickness benefits are payable; moreover, among the cases of illness which may justify extending the period some may by their nature prevent the lodging of a formal application.

2. The concept of force majeure to which Article 25(4) of Regulation No 1408/71 refers in order to limit the cases in which sickness benefits continue to be payable after the expiry of the period referred to in Article 25(1) to an unemployed person who has gone to a Member State other than the competent State in order to seek employment there must, in the light of the consideration to be given to the unemployed person' s state of health, be understood as designating abnormal and unforeseeable circumstances, outside his control, the consequences of which could not be avoided except at the cost of excessive sacrifice. In ascertaining whether there is a case of force majeure, the competent institution must therefore conduct an appraisal of the circumstances of the case in order to determine whether the unemployed person may reasonably be required to return to the competent State, regard being had not only to the risks that his state of health may significantly deteriorate or his chances of recovery diminish as a result of the return journey, but also to the severity of the ordeal which he would thereby be forced to endure, given, first, that the concept of force majeure cannot be limited to the absolute impossibility of returning to the competent State and, second, that physical ability to travel cannot as such preclude a finding of force majeure.