The European Council calls for continual involvement of social security institutions.

The Council has agreed on conclusions on the digitisation of social security coordination. The Member States welcome the Communication published by the European Commission on 6 September and address some aspects in their conclusions. In it, the Council supports the initiatives of the European Commission, but also emphasises the importance of cooperation between Member States and the European Commission in the bodies created for this purpose. In its conclusions, the Council also emphasises that the continual involvement of social security institutions is necessary for the successful implementation of initiatives to digitise the coordination of social security.

Successful digitisation

The Council’s conclusions emphasise the progress made so far in digitisation, particularly with EESSI. EESSI – the system for the digital exchange of social security data – is an ambitious long-term project and connects several thousand institutions in 32 countries. It took much longer to get there than originally planned. From the Council's point of view, however, this effort was worthwhile, as EESSI is now being used in all participating countries, even if some Member States still need support at present. However, according to the Council's conclusions, EESSI should be fully implemented in all Member States by 2024.

Cooperation is important

The Council's conclusions emphasise the active role of both the European Commission as well as the Administrative Commission and Technical Commission. The Administrative Commission is responsible for administrative and interpretative issues arising from the provisions of the regulations on social security coordination, while the Technical Commission is responsible for data communication between social security institutions. In the recent past, however, the Council and the European Commission have assessed the relevance of the agreements reached in the above-mentioned commissions differently.

In its Communication of 6 September, the European Commission emphasised the date of 12 December 2023 agreed in the Single Digital Gateway Directive for the introduction of a digital health card. A goal that all those involved in the Administrative Commission, including the European Commission, had previously considered unrealistic. Developing and implementing a solution that is accepted across borders by all stakeholders requires time and resources, and the Council’s conclusions also point out that fragmentation and overlaps should be avoided when introducing digital solutions. The European Commission is currently working with the Member States on an interim solution that can be implemented in the short term.

Learning from mistakes

The introduction of EESSI has shown that initiatives can be successfully implemented in the digitisation of social security coordination. However, it also became clear that these are complex issues that require the early and comprehensive involvement of the social security institutions. The Council's conclusions therefore explicitly emphasise that the expertise of the social security institutions must be involved at an early stage and on an ongoing basis.

The Communication by the European Commission also shows a change in thinking. The two pilot projects for the ESSPASS, the European digital social security pass, are to be opened up to as many other social security institutions as possible despite the tender having been finalised. The expertise and experience of as many Member States as possible are needed for the timely and successful implementation of the ESSPASS. In this context, the Council welcomes the European Commission's proposal to organise an exchange on successful implementations and solutions via the European Labour Authority (ELA).

Next steps

On 8 November, the European Parliament and the Council reached a trialogue agreement on the regulation for the introduction of European digital identity exchanges. This will create a legal framework for a European digital identity (EUid). This is an important prerequisite for secure digital exchange between public institutions and citizens. The agreement on the EUid in the trialogue also created the basis for the ESSPASS. The EUid is a digital wallet. The ESSPASS is realised as a secure application in this digital wallet and is based on the proof of identity of the EUid.

In addition, the Council and the European Parliament agreed on a compromise for a regulation for interoperable digital public services on 14 November. With this, the European Commission wants to create a framework for cooperation between public administrations throughout the EU and help to ensure that the secure cross-border exchange of data is always taken into account in digitisation processes in national administrations. The agreements reached must now be formally adopted by the plenary of the European Parliament and the Council. Once the EUid has been formally adopted, the associated implementing acts are to be adopted within six to twelve months. From this date, the Member States have a 24-month deadline to make the EUid available. Then the ESSPASS with its first functions can also be introduced.