After one reform comes the next.

On 29 April, the trilogue negotiations on the revision of Regulations (EC) No 883/2004 and No 987/2009 on the coordination of social security systems were successfully concluded (see DSV News 04-2026). The German Social Insurance (DSV) expressly welcomes the compromise as an important step towards modernising the coordination framework. The agreement will also allow provisions of particular importance for social security institutions to enter into force, including the coordination of long-term care benefits. Formal adoption by the European Parliament and the Council will follow the legal-linguistic revision.

However, the revision of the coordination regulations does not mark the end of the further development of EU coordination law. Preparations are currently underway for the digitalisation of social security, in particular the introduction of the European Social Security Pass (ESSPASS). German social security institutions are actively contributing to this work. The European Commission intends to present a legislative proposal as part of the Fair Labour Mobility Package in the third quarter of this year. At the same time, discussions on the technical implementation are already progressing.

Further legislative action is needed beyond digitalisation

While digitalisation is an important priority, there remains scope to further improve the coordination regulations themselves. The DSV has therefore examined at an early stage how the coordination framework could be further developed beyond the recently agreed revision in a practical and future-oriented manner. Its proposals focus on two key areas: the rules on applicable legislation and the system for inter-state reimbursement of costs.

The applicable legislation should reflect economic reality

One objective of the DSV proposals is to ensure that the rules better reflect today's cross-border patterns of employment and self-employment. For example, the legislation of the Member State in which a person pursuing activities in two or more Member States carries out the main part of their economic activity should, as a general rule, apply. Under the current rules, priority is generally given to employed activity, irrespective of its actual scale. This approach no longer reflects today's labour market realities. Moreover, it creates opportunities for economically self-employed persons who also pursue only marginal employed activity in another Member State to influence the determination of the applicable legislation in ways that are not justified by the actual substance of their economic activity.

Reimbursement procedures should become more efficient

The DSV also proposes streamlining the system for inter-state reimbursement by introducing shorter deadlines and harmonised procedural standards. In the DSV's view, this is now entirely feasible. Communication between social security institutions is today largely carried out electronically through the Electronic Exchange of Social Security Information (EESSI), making exchanges significantly faster. In addition, reimbursement procedures are based on standardised Business Use Cases, which already address many issues automatically that previously required lengthy bilateral clarification. These developments justify shorter deadlines both for payments and for contesting reimbursement claims.

An end to reimbursement on the basis of lump-sum amounts

A particular priority for the DSV is the abolition of reimbursement on the basis of lump-sum amounts. Such arrangements do not necessarily reflect the actual costs incurred by health insurance institutions when providing benefits in kind on behalf of insured persons from other EU Member States. The abolition of flat-rate reimbursement was already discussed during the negotiations on Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 but ultimately failed due to opposition from the Member States applying such arrangements, notably Spain and Portugal. A future revision of the coordination rules should revisit this objective. In the DSV's view, an appropriate transitional period would allow the Member States that still rely on flat-rate reimbursement to move towards reimbursement based on the actual costs incurred.