On Wednesday, 22 April, another trilogue – negotiations between representatives of the European Parliament, the European Commission and the Council of the EU – is taking place in Brussels regarding the directive on the coordination of social security systems.
MEP Jana Toom, shadow rapporteur for the Renew Europe group’s report on the directive, explains just how important it is:
‘Everyone knows that one of the EU’s fundamental freedoms is the free movement of people, particularly of labour. Europe has long been considering the need to coordinate social security systems in such a situation, as far back as the late 1950s, but such coordination has so far proved insufficient. Meanwhile, here is a simple and relevant example: if a person from Estonia works in Finland for a while, they should be entitled to Finnish unemployment benefits, which are significantly higher than those in Estonia.
And these benefits are just the start. Different EU countries face issues with sick pay, maternity and paternity benefits, pensions, unemployment benefits, disability benefits, compensation for workplace injuries and occupational diseases, benefits in the event of an employee’s death, and so on. The situations vary from country to country; the more issues there are, the more problems there are.
The amendments to the Directive on the coordination of social security systems have had a difficult journey. It will soon be 10 years old; at one point it was removed from the agenda because no agreement could be reached. Today, we have every chance of achieving this. Cyprus – the country holding the EU Presidency in the first half of 2026 – is providing us with significant support. We are making every effort to improve the situation for those working in another EU country and their family members. Let us hope that we will finally find the long-awaited compromise. At stake is fairness for workers and the transformation of the EU single market into a more social, people-centred system.”