Final attempt on reaching an agreement on revising the European coordination law.

The trialogue on the revision of the regulations on the coordination of social security systems (EG) No 883/2004 and (EG) No 987/2009 is to be resumed. An attempt to reach an agreement back in December 2021 failed in the Committee of Permanent Representatives from the Member States (Coreper). The reasons for this were the intended exemption of the construction industry from the pre-notification requirement for the A1 certificate, unemployment benefits and unspecified technical defects. Things went very quiet subsequently. Compromise proposals were not submitted so the negotiations failed before they began.  Most recently, Belgium's attempt to split the reform and negotiate the controversial points separately was rejected by Gabriele Bischoff, the European Parliament's chief negotiator. This meant that revising the coordination law could not be finalised even during the 9th legislative period.

The third trialogue is scheduled to start in June

The European Commission's proposal to revise coordination regulations (EG) No 883/2004 and (EG) No 987/2009 is now entering its third legislative period. Surprisingly, the current Polish Council Presidency has pulled a compromise proposal out of its sleeve. This was previously confirmed in the Committee of Permanent Representatives from the Member States (Coreper) on 11 April. The European Parliament approved the negotiations based on the mandate that the Council adapted on 7 May. This cleared the way for the third inter-institutional trialogue, which is expected to start in June. 

Focus: A1 certificate and unemployment benefits

To date, attempts to reach an agreement within the Council have failed on two issues - the structuring of unemployment benefits and the exceptions to mandatory pre-notification of the A1 certificate. According to Poland's proposal, entitlement to unemployment benefits requires a minimum insurance period of 18 to 22 weeks as well as an export period of six months for unemployment benefits. Pre-notification of the A1 certificate should be waived for business trips and activities lasting no more than three consecutive days within a 30-day period. In emergencies, subsequent notification would be possible within three days of starting work.

This will be difficult for the parliamentary negotiators

The ball is now in the court of the European Parliament's chief negotiator, Gabriele Bischoff (S&D). The upcoming negotiations are unlikely to be easy for her, as new negotiation agreements could quickly nullify the majority that was only strenuously reached in favour of the Council’s compromise. Making matters worse is the fact that Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's patience is running out. She has previously indicated that there will only be one last attempt to reach an agreement on the dossier. The DSV is hoping for success so that parts that have long been negotiated, such as coordinating the care services, can come into force.