During the last legislative period, the Member States entered a deadlock over the amendment of the Coordination Regulation. The new trialogue should lead to a breakthrough.

A1 certificates and unemployment benefits are at the heart of the dispute. The proposal to amend Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 on the coordination of social security systems COM (2016) 815 was put back on the trialogue’s table on 22 October 2019. The sticking points, which will be discussed further between the Finnish Presidency of the Council and the European Parliament, include applicable law. Specifically, this is about A1 certificates and under what circumstances they have to be presented. Business trips are a particular point of contention here. A further point of debate is Article 65 on unemployment insurance and specifically the export of unemployment benefits.

Long-term care agreed

The negotiations are based on the agreement that was negotiated between the European Parliament and the former Romanian Presidency of the Council in March this year. As is well known, this failed to find a majority in the Council. This means that the new trialogue will deal exclusively with the applicable law and the export of unemployment benefits. The coordination of long-term care benefits is no longer on the negotiating table. This is a good thing from the point of view of health insurance.

They are now looking for a ‘package solution’ that will probably require every Member State to make a compromise. In order to close this ‘deal’, negotiations will take place behind closed doors. 

The sooner, the better

There are many in Germany who want the matter finalised before it takes on the Council Presidency on 1 July 2020. The sooner this is done, the better. This is because the political stalemate is causing a mountain of applications to be filed with the relevant health insurance funds and liaison offices of the social insurance institutions. The total number of applications to the German Federal Pension Insurance over three months was over 54,000; the story at the German Liaison Office for Health Insurance Abroad of the GKV Spitzenverband is similar. In addition, around 90% of all applications relate to business trips. That is the situation in Germany. It is extremely burdensome, and clarification is urgently required.