Back on the agenda: the renewal of the EU social security regulation.

The reform of the regulation on the coordination of social security systems has been on the agenda of EU institutions since 2016; however, agreement has not yet been reached on key aspects of the legislation. Recently, however, the European Commission officially confirmed its intention to seek solutions to the issues hindering the renewal of the regulation, which is expected to take place during the first half of 2026 under the Cypriot Presidency.

In the wake of the Covid pandemic, new forms of work have emerged, and EU regulations no longer provide clear answers to the practical issues arising from the explosive growth of remote work and the changed circumstances of internationally active self-employed workers, a situation that has created numerous opportunities for abuse in recent years.

The reform of the regulation on the coordination of social security systems

A reform is therefore necessary, as is clearly demonstrated by the fact that employers have jointly called for the renewed inclusion of the revision of the coordination regulation on the agenda. Companies need clear legal frameworks in order to manage these new forms of mobility and to respond to changes in the labour market. In their joint statement, employers propose the following solutions, which may help to accelerate and further simplify the coordination of social security systems within the EU:

• exemption from prior notification requirements for business trips and very short postings not exceeding three days,

• Where prior notification is still required, an immediate automatic acknowledgement of receipt confirming that the prior notification has been made should be issued upon submission of the notification request.

• support for and wider implementation of centralised digital solutions, including:

• • ESSPASS (European Social Security Pass): digital storage of key data, including the A1 certificate,
  • EESSI (Electronic Exchange of Social Security Information): accelerating data exchange between Member States through standardised data formats and mandatory deadlines.

The reform process would also affect the regulation of postings.

• Changes to the time limits for postings

The current maximum duration of 24 months would be reduced to 18 months. Prior to a posting, the employee would be required to have been insured in the sending state for three months instead of the current one month, thereby strengthening the employee’s link to the social security system of the sending state.

• Stronger action would be taken against abuses related to so-called “letterbox companies”.

• Legal interpretation issues concerning very short stays abroad, including the rules applicable to so-called business trips, would be clarified.

• In order to ensure that the employee replacing the previous colleague would not be deprived of preferential treatment either,

the expected or actual duration of the activities performed by consecutively replacing employees would have to be aggregated.

• The “waiting period” for the re-posting of the same employee to the same Member State would be extended from the current 2 months to 3 months.

• The rules applicable to posted workers performing work in two or more Member States would be simplified

following the model of the rules applicable to posted workers performing work in a single Member State.

• The A1 certificate would become “portable” through digitalisation.

• A European Social Security Card would be introduced.

A coordinated European system would be established through a social security card designed to facilitate the tracking of social security contributions and entitlements, linked to the existing European Health Insurance Card (EHIC).

As a result, a modern, EU-level solution coordinated among Member States could be created to ensure the social security rights of internationally active workers living and working within the European Union.