Prerequisites for a Social Security Agreement (SSA) Stephan Cueni Head of International Agreements

Transcription

1 Federal Department of Home Affairs Federal Social Insurance Office Intrenational Affairs, Agreements Prerequisites for a Social Security Agreement (SSA) Stephan Cueni Head of International Agreements Zagreb, 16 February 2011

2 Overview Political conditions Material conditions Practical conditions The Social Security Agreements of Switzerland in the light of the prerequisites 2

3 Political conditions Recognition of the contracting partner Importance of an agreement, assessment on the basis of the: potential number of persons concerned; social, economic, financial and political interests/advantages; general national and foreign policies; political acceptance; 3

4 Material conditions Feasibility of an agreement: assessment on the basis of the: existence of a functioning legal social security system with defined benefits and coverage; ability to coordinate the national schemes; need to coordinate the national schemes convenient type of agreement 4

5 Practical requirements Applicability of an agreement: assessment on the basis of the national social security infrastructure: competent authorities; competent institutions; contact point/liaison body for a smooth international cooperation; existence of officially recognized health care providers; implementing tools: registers of inhabitants and civil status; use of foreign languages/alphabets and translation; international bank transfers/secure payments; data protection 5

6 Particular challenges Provisions of the agreement should be applicable in practice; Identification of the beneficiary; Verification of the status of the beneficiary; Reliability and correctness of medical examinations, reports, life certificates, certificates on civil and/or family status, education certificates, income assessments Risk of fraud and error; Insufficient exchange of information; Dispute settlement; 6

7 Assessment tools Analysis of the national social security system of the possible contracting partner; Submission of questionnaires to the possible contracting partner; Bilateral exploratory expert talks; will mostly lead to expectations concerning the conclusion of an agreement. 7

8 Network of CH- Social Security Agreements 8

9 Social Security Agreements of Switzerland in relation to EU-Member States: annex II of the bilateral agreement on free movement of workers (coordination based on EU-Regulations 1408/71 and 574/72 ); in relation to EFTA-Member States: appendix 2 annex K of the EFTA-agreement (coordination based on EU- Regulations 1408/71 and 574/72); in relation to non EU/EFTA-States: 14 bilateral agreements (AUS, CDN, CL, HR, IND*, IL, JP*, ME*, MK, PH, SE*,TR, USA, YU*); 9

10 CH-Social Security Agreements in the light of the prerequisites Agreement CH-EU : AT, BE, BG,CY, CZ, DE, DK, EE, ES, FR, FI, UK, GR, HU, IT, IE, LT, LV, LU, MT, NL, PL, PO, RO, SE, SK, SL EFTA-Agreement: IS, LI, NO Bilateral agreements: AU, CA, CL, HR, IL, IN, JP*, ME*, MK, PH, SE*,TR, USA, Ex-YU (BA); 10

11 Conclusion Large number of prerequisites for a SSA; Systematic overall assessment recommended; Practical conditions should not be neglected; Some SSA do not fulfill all the requirements; Difficulties can therefore arise in the application of the SSA and reduce their political acceptance. 11