News update as of March 20, 2019

EU/Agreement on new regulations for social security system coordination as regards unemployment compensation and posted workers. On 19 March 2019, a provisional agreement was concluded between the European Parliament, the Council of Ministers, and the European Commission that notably improves the portability of jobseekers’ rights. Effectively the European Parliament press statement underlines that jobseekers will be able to avail of ‘exported’ unemployment benefit payments (i.e. paid by the jobseeker’s former country) for a period of six months, instead of three currently, and the EU Parliament also indicates that the EU Member State making those payments can extend them until the end of their term. Furthermore, once a worker works for a continuous period of one month in a new EU Member State then the worker can benefit from the full length of the insurance periods secured in another EU Member State. The tricky issue of border workers was solved via the principle of unemployment payments being paid, for a longer period than 6 months, by the EU Member State within which the work was being carried out, once the work itself was carried out for a continuous 6-month period. Currently such unemployment payments would be paid by the State of residency. The EU Commission was proposing to shift this to the Member State within which the work was being carried out after 12 months of work. In addition, workers posted abroad for a maximum term of 24 months (and not replacing a previously posted worker) will remain insured within the EU Member State where the employer is legally established. In a bit to counter fraudulent activity these posted workers must have been insured for a least three months in the originating EU Member State before being posted abroad. In order for this provisional agreement to become definitive it must be adopted by both the EU Council and the EU Parliament, something which observers have said is not a ‘given’.