Amended proposals for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 on the coordination of social security systems, and determining the content of Annex XI and a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending the annexes to Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 on the coordination of social security systems
Date: 2008-10-14
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU law, free movement of persons, proposal (EU), social security, social security legislation, social-security benefit, social-security harmonisation

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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 14.10.2008 
COM(2008) 648 final 

2006/0008 (COD) 

Amended proposals for a 

REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL 

amending Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 on the coordination of social security systems, 
and determining the content of Annex XI 

and a 

REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL  

amending the annexes to Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 on the coordination of social 
security systems 

(presented by the Commission pursuant to Article 250 (2) of the EC Treaty) 

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2006/0008 (COD) 

Amended proposals for a 

REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL 

amending Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 on the coordination of social security systems, 
and determining the content of Annex XI 

and a 

REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL  

amending the annexes to Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 on the coordination of social 
security systems 

(Text with EEA relevance) 

1. 

STAGE OF THE PROCEDURES 

The proposals COM(2006)7 final – 2006/0008 (COD) and COM(2007) 376 final – 
2007/0129 (COD) were adopted by the Commission on 24 January 2006 and 3 July 
2007 and sent to Parliament on 24 January 2006 and 3 July 2007. 

The  European  Economic  and  Social  Committee  adopted  an  opinion  on  the 
Commission proposal on 14 March 2007 (1st proposal only). 

As these two proposals both relate to the Annexes to Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 
and both amend some of the same Annexes, the Council and Parliament decided that 
the two proposals should be merged. 

Parliament  considers  procedure  2007/0129(COD)  to  have  lapsed  as  a  result  of  the 
incorporation  of  the  contents  of  Commission  proposal  COM(2007)0376  final  into 
procedure 2006/0008(COD). 

On the basis of a single report Parliament adopted 77 amendments at the first reading 
on 9 July 2008. 

2. 

OBJECTIVE OF THE PROPOSAL 

Regulation  (EC)  No 883/2004  simplifies  and  modernises  Regulation  (EEC) 
No 1408/71  on  the  coordination  of  social  security  schemes.  The  Annexes  to 
Regulation  (EC)  No 883/2004  must  be  supplemented  before  it  becomes  applicable. 
These proposals are going through the codecision procedure at the same time as the 
implementing Regulation for Regulation (EC) No 883/2004. 

Initially there were two separate proposals for the various Annexes to the Regulation. 
The first proposal (COM(2006) 7 final) deals mainly with Annex XI. It also contains 

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some  amendments  to  the  basic  Regulation  and  the  re-written  Annex  VIII  (pro  rata 
pensions). This proposal is likely to be accepted by the Council . 

The second proposal (COM(2007) 376 final) contains the remaining Annexes. It also 
includes  further  amendments  to  Annexes  VIII  and  XI;  some  of  these  amendments 
were needed simply to take account of the accession of Bulgaria and Romania, but 
during the course of discussions on the proposal, a few other Member States wanted 
further amendments made to these Annexes. The proposal is likely to be accepted by 
the Council. 

Parliament  merged  the  two  proposals  on  the  first  reading.  This  was  done  by 
incorporating  all  of  the  second  proposal  (COM(2007)  376  final,  including 
amendments) into the first (COM (2006)7 final).  

3. 

OBJECTIVE OF THE AMENDED PROPOSAL 

The  amended  proposal  acknowledges  the  merging  of  the  two  proposals  and  adapts 
them on a number of points as suggested by Parliament.  

4. 

OBSERVATION ON THE AMENDMENTS ADOPTED BY THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 

4.1. 

Amendments accepted by the Commission (all excepting 6 and 12) 

The  Commission  agrees  to  incorporate  all  amendments  adopted.  It  can  accept 
Amendments 1-5, 7-11, 13-24 and 26-78rev. 

4.2. 

Amendments which the Commission can accept in part or subject to rewording 

Amendments 6 and 12 

4.2.1.  Amendment 6 

This amendment reflects new recital 7a agreed by Council but removes the reference 
to  Annex  III.  The  Commission  can  accept  this  amendment  in  part.  The  words  "in 
principle"  should  be  inserted  as  follows:  “The  family  members  of  former  frontier 
workers  should  in  principle  benefit  from  the  possibility  to  continue  medical 
treatment in the former country of employment of the insured person after his or her 
retirement.”  This  is  to  reflect  the  fact  that  Annex  III  will  continue  to  apply  for  a 
limited  period,  so  the  benefits  referred  to  will  not  be  available  immediately  in  all 
cases. 

4.2.2.  Amendment 12 

This amendment to Article 28(1) of Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 reflects a similar 
amendment  agreed  by  Council  but  removes  the  reference  to  Annex  III.  The 
Commission can accept this amendment in part. It appears that it is in fact necessary 
to  retain  the  reference  to  Annex  III,  but  this  reference  should  be  amended  to 
acknowledge the fact that the Annex will only be in force for a limited period. The 
amendment  can  therefore  be  accepted  subject  to  an  amendment  to  the  second 
subparagraph so that it reads as follows: “The first subparagraph shall apply mutatis 

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mutandis to the members of the family of the retired frontier worker unless, for as 
long as Annex III is in force, the Member State where the frontier worker last 
pursued his or her activity is listed in Annex Ш.” 

5. 

AMENDED PROPOSAL 

Having  regard  to  Article  250(2)  of  the  EC  Treaty,  the  Commission  amends  its 
proposal as indicated above. 

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