1. GENERAL FEATURES. Correo electrónico MINISTERIO DE EMPLEO Y SEGURIDAD SOCIAL SUBSECRETARÍA SECRETARÍA GENERAL TÉCNICA

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1 SUBSECRETARÍA MINISTERIO DE EMPLEO Y SEGURIDAD SOCIAL SECRETARÍA GENERAL TÉCNICA SUBDIRECCIÓN GENERAL DE RELACIONES INTERNACIONALES SOCIOLABORALES 20th REPORT ON THE FULFILMENT BY SPAIN OF THE PROVISIONS OF THE EUROPEAN SOCIAL SECURITY CODE OF THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE PERIOD BETWEEN 1 JULY 2014 AND 30 JUNE 2015 The Council of Europe, according to the provisions of Article 74 of the European Social Security Code, has requested the submission of the memory corresponding to the period between 1 July and 30 June 2015, on the fulfilment of the Parts ratified by Spain of the mentioned international instrument contents. For this purpose, below there is a list of the changes made in our legislation during the mentioned period, and which are meant to comply with the contents of the mentioned European Social Security Code. Attached you find an Annex with the economic and statistical data. 1. GENERAL FEATURES A. Administration/Organization Innovations in rules - Act 36/2014, of 26 December, on General State Budgets for the year 2015 (BOE Official Journal Correction of errors in BOE ). The 91 st provision of the Act provides that the members of the Corps of Registrars of Deeds, Commercials and Goods and Chattels, as well as the members of the Corps of Applicants, who join the said Corps from 1 January 2015 shall be integrated in the Special Scheme of Social Security for Self-employed or Autonomous Workers. The said integration will take place under the terms and conditions established in the said Special Scheme. The Government is authorised to dictate as many provisions as are needed to carry out the development of the rules for this provision. Information concerning administrative practices YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY The National Institute for Social Security (INSS with its initials in Spanish) has develop along its history a model of care to the citizen focused almost exclusively on care with the citizen being present, through its own network of Centres for Service and Information of the Social Security. In more recent times, the INSS has started an incipient diversification of its service channels, launching not without conceptual and operating doubts and with a relative success the development of the channels for telephone and telematics care. Focusing on this last channel, the experience gained shows that, in spite of the fact that the telematics channel is the most cost-efficient, a very small proportion of consultations sgrsi@meyss.es C/ María de Guzmán 52

2 and procedures of the citizens is carried out in this way. The INSS has identified two main reasons for this situation: The means to authenticate the users employed until now (electronic identification card DNI-, electronic certificate) have a low rate of use among the objective public of the service. The usability of the telematics procedures included in the electronic seat, as well the information architecture to facilitate its spotting and its functional design are not suitable for their general use by a public without specific training. In order to give an answer to this situation, the INSS thinks in 2013 to gradually migrate the most frequent consultations and procedures of the citizens, among those that can be carried out by telematics way, to YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY, a new Web environment for service to the citizen, whose first phase was launched in 2014, one of whose features is a simpler authentication system, besides the present systems, and that it is designed with demanding criteria of usability and accessibility. YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY started to function in July 2014 with the following services: Information to workers - Periods of contributions for benefits - Period of time until ordinary retirement Information to pensioners Present pension and historic record of the pension * Pensioner certificates * Common information - Situation for purposes of health care - Application for EHC. The service YOUR PROCEDURES is launched In March The citizens can accede through it to information relating to the applications they have made to the INSS for any type of benefit. It is foreseen that other important services start to function: The retirement simulator, that will allow to make simulations of retirement starting from de calculations made according to all information available on each citizen, allowing to include any other appropriate information, and to personalize the information on his or her labour situation, as well as contributions from now to the time of retirement. The maternity and paternity simulator. The application for maternity and paternity benefits that can be managed without submitting documents and which will be automatically solved, and the application for death, survival and retirement benefits. 2

3 The registration as health care beneficiaries of new born, and the recovery of old beneficiaries of health care. Other services will be launched before the end of 2015, including: The change of domicile, current account and other communications of pensioners. The applications for maternity and paternity benefits that require the submission of documents. Almost 300,000 people have activated their password to accede YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY. B. Benefits Act 36/2014 of 26 December on General State Budgets for the year 2015 (BOE ). It provides that the pensions paid by the Social Security system in 2015 will generally be increased by 0.25%, under the terms indicated in the Act itself. It contains the limits in the initial set of the public pensions during 2015, establishing a system of double limitation, by fixing a maximum monthly amount (2, euros) and a maximum annual amount (35, euros). The pensions in 2015 are generally updated by 0.25%, taking as a reference the legally established amount on 31 December 2014, except if they exceed the maximum limit of pensions, which is of 2, euros/month. If this is the case, the pensions are not updated. Concerning the complements to minimum of the contributory pensions, the access to them or the maintenance of their receipt are conditioned to the fact that the pensioner does not receive an income (except the own pension) of more than 7, euros per year. Furthermore, and concerning the pensions caused from 1 January 2003, in order to accede to the complements to minima it is necessary to reside in the Spanish territory. In case of minimum pensions where there is a dependent spouse, it is necessary that the spouse lives with the pensioner and depends economically from him or her, considering that this case is given when the pensioner s spouse is not a pensioner too with his or her pension paid by a basic public scheme of social protection, and provided that the income of the pensioner and his or her spouse is lower than 8, euros per year. For 2015, the amount of the Social Security pension, of the non contributory mode is established in 5, euros per year, an amount that will be increased with 525 euros per year when the pensioner accredits with absolute certainty that he or she doesn t own a home and has, as usual residence, a home rented to the pensioner by an owner who has 3

4 not a kinship degree to the pensioner up to the third degree, or is his or her spouse or a person who lives with him or her with relation of affectivity analogous to a marital relation. Finally, the LPGE 2015 establishes the amounts for the pensions of the extinguished Compulsory Old Age and Invalidity Insurance (SOVI), if they do not coincide with other public pensions, in 5, euros. Royal Decree 1107/2014 of 26 December, on revaluation of the Social Security pensions and other social public benefits for the year (BOE ). According to the provisions of Act 36/2014 of 26 December, this royal decree provides for a general revaluation of the Social Security pensions, including the maximum limit of public pensions receipt, of 0.25%. According to the said legal provisions, this royal decree establishes a general revaluation of the Social Security pensions, including the maximum limit of public pensions receipt, of 0.25 per cent. Likewise, a revaluation of 0.25 per cent of the minimum amounts of the Social Security system pensions In its contributory mode, of the contributory pensions of the said system, as well as of the not concurrent pensions of the extinguished Compulsory Old Age and Invalidity Insurance, is established. Likewise, the amounts of the allowances for children with disability aged 18 or more are also updated. This rule includes as well as an annex an updated schedule of the amounts for given pensions and benefits, applicable in CHART OF MINIMUM AMOUNTS OF CONTRIBUTORY PENSIONS FOR THE YEAR 2015 KIND OF PENSION Retirement Holder aged sixty five yearsr Holder aged under sixty five Sixty five years holder coming from great invalidity Permanent incapacity Great invalidity Absolute HOLDERS With dependent spouse /year 10, , , , Without spouse Single person economic unity /year 8, , , With not dependent spouse /year , , , ,

5 Total: Holder aged 65 Total: Holder between 60 and 64 Total: Derived from common disease, aged under 60 Partial, from the work accidents scheme Widowhood Holder with family responsibilities Holder aged 65 or with a disability equal to or higher than 65 per cent Holder aged between 60 and 64 Holder aged under 60 years 10, , , , , , , , , , , , , KIND OF PENSION Orphanage Per beneficiary Per beneficiary with disability, aged under 18 years, with a disability of a degree equal to or higher than 65 per cent In case of absolute orphanage, the minimum will increase in 6, /year, distributed if appropriate, among the beneficiaries For family members Per beneficiary If there is neither widow/er/ or orphan pensioner A single beneficiary aged 65 years A single beneficiary aged under 65 years Several beneficiaries. The minimum allocated to each one of them will increase by the amount resulting from pro rate 3, /year between the number of beneficiaries. HOLDERS 2, , , , , Act 34/2014 of 26 December on measures in matters of final payment and deposit of contributions to Social Security. The explanation on the contents of this rule is developed in section XI: Funding, of this report. 5

6 C. HEALTH CARE - Changes made: 1) Concretion and updating of the service Basing on the criteria of quality and security of the patient, the catalogue of services has been reviewed basing on efficiency and on the assessment of technologies and procedures carried out by the Agency for the Assessment of Health Care Technologies and Benefits of the National Health System. Following the indication of the Inter-territorial Council of the National Health System (NHS), it has been worked within: a) Basic common portfolio of services in the areas of diagnosis of diseases in presymptomatic phases, genetics and assisted human reproduction, after the publication of the Order SS1/2065/2014 of 31 October, modifying the annexes 1, 11 and 111 of Royal Decree 1030/2006 of 15 September, establishing the portfolio of common services of the National Health System and the procedure to update them. b) Common suppleme4ntary portfolio in the areas of: - Dietary products: the offer has been updated through the Ministerial Order SS1/1329/2014 of 22 July, modifying the common supplementary portfolio of benefits with dietary products and the bases to include dietary food for special medical uses in the offer of dietary products of the National Health System and for the establishment of the maximum funded amounts. - Ortho-prosthesis products: four Resolutions have been published developing the classification of the products making up the ortho-prosthesis products: wheelchairs (6 Nay 2014), orthesis (16 July 2014), special ortho-prosthesis (22 August 2014), external prostheses (30 December 2014) 2) Health Care Cohesion Fund The Annexes 1.1. and 111, ruling the compensation costs at national level for hospitalization processes, ambulatory procedures and centres, services and units of reference of the NHS (CSUR) are periodically updated. In this sense, the Order SSI/2204/2014 of 24 November, updating the annexes 1, 11 and 111 of Royal Decree 1207/2006 of 20 October, ruling the management of the health care cohesion Fund, has been published. - Decided, planned or proposed changes in the reference period: 1) Concretion and updating of the service portfolio The catalogue of chirurgical implants has been revised and updated, with the ministerial Order ruling it being waiting for the report of the Council of State. Its publication is foreseen for the end of the first half year

7 The common catalogue of the ortho-prosthesis benefit is being worked out, as well as the maximum funded amounts, and the requirements to rule the Offer of this benefit are being developed. Its publication is foreseen for the end of the first half year of Concerning the assisted human reproduction, the review of the rules in force is being worked out in order to adapt them to the European guidelines recently approved concerning the offer of services, the activities and the donation. A Royal Decree to develop the rules on the requirements of the donors and the national registers of donations is being planned. 2) Royal Decree Bill on the Health Care Cohesion Fund and the Care Guarantee Fund A bill whose objective is the cohesion in the National health System. It is about assuring, through these mechanisms, the transfer of patients on grounds of health care cohesion, mainly to reference centres, services or units, when they have to be cared against subsidiary pathologies, but also to hospitals or ambulatory specialized care when necessary, and, on the other hand, the health care during the temporary stays in other Autonomous Community of the persons residing in a community. 3) Royal Decree Bill establishing the general bases on the authorization of health care centres, services or establishments and determining the minimum common requirements for their authorization Ruling bill aimed at replacing Royal Decree 1277/2003 of 10 October establishing the general bases on authorization of health centres, services and establishments, which ruled the bases for the authorization procedure of health centres, services and establishments, setting out a common classification, denomination and definition for all of them and which created the Catalogue and General Registry of health centres, services and establishments. The purpose of the Royal Decree is, first, to adapt the system in force for the authorization of health centres, services and establishments, public and private, ruled basically by the mentioned Royal Decree 1277/2003 of 9 October and the autonomous rules to develop it, to the regime of administrative intervention shaped by the Act 20/2013 of 10 December, on guarantee of the market unit, mainly in what concerns the observance of the principles of need and proportionality in the actions of the competent health authorities for the establishment of limits to the success of a health activity or its exercise, the determination of the types and cases of health care authorizations from the point of view of their validity and efficiency throughout the national territory, and the simplifying of the administrative burdens. All this is without any doubt transcendent for the initiative, establishment and mobility of the providers of health care. On the other hand, the rule tries to fulfil the provisions of the mentioned Royal Decree 1277/2003, which provided that the minimum common requirements for the authorization of a health centre, service or establishment will be provided for by royal decree for all and each type of health centre, service and establishment. 7

8 In this sense, when determining the minimum common requirements for the authorization of the health centres, this provision also fulfils the provision in Royal Order 81/2014 of 7 February, establishing rules to guarantee the trans-border health care in relation to the type, characteristics and contents of the information to be given to the citizens, users and patients by the providers of health care, as well as in what concerns their responsibility regime, in cases of eventual damages to the persons caused on occasion of the care given,. On the other hand, the National Institute for Social Security and the Social Marine Institute acknowledge the entitlement to health care of all workers who are within their implementation fields, as well as the care of the from them dependent beneficiaries. Likewise, the entitlement of the pensioners to this special regime, and that of the from them dependent beneficiaries, of the recipients of any Social Security periodical benefit, including the unemployment benefit, is also acknowledged, as the entitlement is also acknowledged when these benefits have run out, provided that they had been paid by this Special Scheme for Sea Going Workers. II. BENEFITS ON GROUNDS OF DISEASE Royal Decree 625/2014 of 18 July, ruling given aspects of management and control of the temporary incapacity processes in the first three hundred sixty five days of its duration. The Commission of the Toledo Pact considers that the collaboration mechanisms and the possibilities of control by the National Institute of Social Security and the mutual societies collaborating with Social Security should be promoted, in relation to the different temporary incapacity processes of temporary incapacity of the workers within the Social Security System. Given aspects of the management and control of the temporary incapacity processes during the first three hundred sixty five days of its duration are regulated by this rule, repealing all provisions of equal or lower rank opposed to this royal decree and, expressly, Royal Decree 575/1007 of 18 April, regulating given aspects of the management and the control of the Social Security economic benefit for temporary incapacity. The adaptation of given aspects of the control of the Social Security economic benefit for temporary incapacity to the new tools of the public administrations, in the era of communications by electronic ways is established as one of its objectives, as the new technologies allow both the exchange of medical data for the control of the temporary incapacity and the access through telematics way of the medical inspectors ascribed to the managing agencies of Social Security, to the clinical documentation of the different health care public services of the Social Security workers systems. Likewise, this Royal Decree rules also the issuing of medical leave, confirmation and discharge certificates, in such a way that, while maintaining the rigor in proving the illness of the worker and its incidence on the capacity to perform his or her work, IT saves bureaucratic processes and adapts the issuing of the medical reports to the different types of pathology that the workers of the Social Security system can suffer. With this purpose, temporality protocols of the medical acts confirming the leave have been established, which, without prejudicing the fact that it is up to the physician who 8

9 issues the report to assign an estimated duration of the process, they facilitate to him or her guiding periods based on diagnosis, occupation and age of the worker. It also introduces and improves the mechanisms established with the purpose to speed the now existing bureaucratic processes and burdens to focus the temporary incapacity processes on the protection of the affected worker and on his or her rapid recovery, mechanisms which additionally mean a better control of the processes, Act 35/2014 of 26 December, modifying the rewritten text of General Act on Social Security in relation to the legal regime of the mutual societies of Work Accidents and Professional Diseases of the Social Security. Its aim is to modernize the functioning and management of the mutual societies (which are renamed as Mutual Societies Collaborating with the Social Security), since the legislation in force requires an adaptation to the present reality to achieve the principles of legal security, coordination, effectiveness, efficiency, transparency and competence. With this purpose, this Act rules the nature and functioning of the Mutual Societies, as well as the content and way to perform the public functions delegated in them, reinforcing the mentioned principles. (for more information, see pages 10 and 11 of this report VI: Benefits for work accident and professional disease ). The aim is to go into depth in the collaboration, in aspects relating to the management of the Social Security, through instruments that allow to improve the management of the different benefits in a way that they will be in the benefit of the protected workers. First, it defines the legal nature of the Mutual Societies Collaborating with the Social Security, which is the holder. The Mutual Societies of Work Accidents and Professional Diseases are ruled in the rewritten text of the General Act on Social Security, approved by Royal Legislative Decree 1/1994 of 20 June, in Chapter VII of Title I, titled Management of the Social Security and, within it, in Section Fourth. The legal figure to which answers the private participation in the management of the public functions is the so called collaboration in the management of Social Security. The Mutual Societies collaborating with Social Security are defined as associations of entrepreneurs of private nature, not profit making, whose exclusive aim is to collaborate in the management of the Social Security and whose field of action covers the whole national territory. The collaboration in the management is developed in relation to several benefits. Thus, the following can be mentioned now: management of economic benefits and of health care derived from professional contingencies, activities of prevention of risks at work of the Social Security, management of the economic benefit for temporary incapacity derived from common contingencies, management of the benefits due to risk during pregnancy and breast-feeding; management of the benefit for care of minors affected by cancer or other serious illness, and management of the benefit for stoppage of activity by autonomous workers. For the development of the mentioned collaboration, they manage contributions of the system periodically transferred to them by the General Fund of Social Security. For the same purpose, buildings of the Social Security are allocated to them. These buildings are registered as owned by the said Common Service of the Social Security Administration, as holder of its single wealth. 9

10 Likewise, they avail of a historical wealth or heritage, devoted to the said aim, including the resources and goods obtained in its previous nature as insuring entity, and which traditionally have been used to face the cases of common responsibility of the associated entrepreneurs. The peculiarities of the management by the Mutual Societies Collaborating with the Social Security of the economic benefit for temporary incapacity derived from common contingencies is taken into account. The jurisdiction of the social order will be the one in charge of the claims whose object is Social Security benefits. Act 36/2014 of 26 December on General State Budgets (AGSB) for the year 2015 (BOE ). The third final provision of the AGSB, with effects as from 1 January 2015 and indefinite validity adds two new paragraphs to letter a) of the third rule of paragraph 1 of the seventh additional provision of the rewritten text of the General Act on Social Security, approved by General Legislative Decree 1/1994 of 20 June, establishing a new way to calculate the benefits for temporary incapacity in the case of part-time workers, in the following terms: The regulatory base is from now the result of dividing the sum of the part-time contribution bases accredited since the last enlistment at work, with a maximum of the three previous months until the causing fact between the number of natural days included in the period taken into consideration. The economic benefit is paid all natural days while the interested person is in situation of temporary incapacity (TI). 10

11 IV. UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS We report that no changes have been made to the Social Security legislation in relation to the unemployment benefits, except adjustments in the Act on General State Budgets for 2015, like contribution ceilings and legal interest of money, or minor changes made by the Act 35/2014 of 26 December (BOE 29 December 2014), modifying the rewritten text of the General Act on Social Security in relation to the legal regime of the Mutual Societies of Work Accidents and Professional Diseases of the Social Security, the Act 32/2010 of 5 August (BOE 6 August 2010), establishing a specific protection system for stoppage of activity of autonomous workers. Royal Decree-Law 16/2014 of 19 December, regulating the Activation for Employment Programme has been approved. This is a specific and extraordinary programme of temporary nature, addressed to longterm unemployed, and it includes active unemployment and labour mediation policies managed by the National Public Employment Service, and offers an economic aid managed by the National Public Employment Service linked to the participation in the mentioned activation for employment policies. The beneficiaries of the programme can be the unemployed persons who, on the date of applying to join the programme, fulfil the following requirements: That at least six months have elapsed since they have exhausted their unemployment benefit or allowance and that they do not receive any economic aid. That they are registered as job-seekers in the competent Public Employment Service on 1 December 2014, and that they kept being registered as job-seekers during 360 days in the eighteen months immediately preceding the date of application to join the programme. That they are not entitled to the contributory or assistance protection against unemployment, or to the active income for insertion. That they have unwillingly ceased to work as employees. That they have no income of whatever nature higher in monthly count than 75 per cent of the minimum inter-professional salary. In order to join the programme and to remain in it, the unemployed people must fulfil the following duties: To subscribe, when applying, a commitment to activity by which they shall perform the different actions that favour their insertion at work. To accredit having carried out three actions of active job search before the National Public Employment Service in the period of one month since they submitted the application. 11

12 To participate in the actions to improve employability and actively look for employment, foreseen in the individual and personal employment route previously assigned by the Public Employment Services. As a result of their admission and maintenance in the programme, the workers may receive an economic aid during six months at most, although the insertion actions foreseen in the programme may continue after this period. On the other hand, the Social Marine Institute has, among its competences, the management, administration and acknowledgement of the entitlement to benefits, including those of unemployment of the Special Scheme of Social security for Sea-going Workers. Within its field, the following change has taken place: Royal Decree-law 16/2014of 1 December (BOE ), regulating the Programme of Activation for Employment, which is a specific and extraordinary programme of temporary nature, addressed to people with family responsibilities, who have been engaged in the labour market in the past, are job-seekers and excluded from the protection against unemployment at least for six months. An individual and personal employment route is made for the beneficiaries, they have to accomplish three actions of active search for employment, they are assigned an individual tutor, and an economic aid of 80% of the IPREM during six months at most is offered to them. V. OLD AGE BENEFITS Monthly evolution in the number of pensions and average pension per type of benefit Nr of pensions Pension July 2014 August 2014 September 2014 October 2014 November 2014 D 20 Permanent 8,154 8,149 8,110 8,105 8,078 8, incapacity Retirement 71,658 71,664 71,637 71,638 71, Death and survival 51,445 51,504 51,439 51,471 51, Total general 131, , , , , , , , , ,612 Average pension Pension July 2014 August 2014 September 2014 October 2014 November 2014 Permanent incapacity Retirement 1,158, , , , Death and survival Total

13 general VI. BENEFITS FOR WORK ACCIDENT AND PROFESSIONAL DISEASE Act 36/2014 of 26 December, on General State Budgets for the year 2015 (BOE Correction of errors BOE ). The GSBA 2015, in its single derogatory provision repeals fifty eighth additional provision of the rewritten text of the General Act on Social Security, approved by Royal Legislative Decree 1/1994 of 210 June, which implies the removal of the compulsory coverage of professional contingencies in the Special Scheme for Autonomous Workers and becomes, therefore, of voluntary nature. Act 35/2014 of 26 December, modifying the rewritten text of the General Act on Social Security in relation to the legal regime of the Mutual Societies of Work Accidents and Professional Diseases of the Social Security (BOE Correction of errors BOE ). Besides the information given in the contents of paragraph II BENEFITS FOR DISEASE, of this report, it is added that Act 35/2014 establishes that the benefit of health care by the Mutual Societies derives from the professional contingencies coverage (work accidents and professional diseases. It is therefore a contributory benefit, foreseen as such in the rewritten text of the General Act on Social Security. The Mutual Societies can carry out the preventive Social Security activities protecting professional contingencies for their associated entrepreneurs and autonomous workers. The impact of the management of the different benefits by the Mutual Societies Collaborating with Social Security has been positive for the system, even in periods of crisis, when they were capable to generate surpluses and to contribute important resources to the Reserve Fund of the Social Security. However, the legislation in force requires an adaptation to the present reality in order to achieve the principles of legal security, coordination, efficiency, effectiveness, transparency and competence. All these principles are being generally materialized in the reform of the Public Administrations. With this purpose, this act, being absolutely respectful to their nature of private entities, has the aim to rule the legal regime of the Mutual Societies Collaborating with Social Security and of the functions they develop as private associative entities collaborating in the management of the public protection. In this way, the purpose is, on the one hand, to cover the existing legal gaps, and, on the other, to integrate the dispersion of the many rules of different rank making up their present legal regime. The act modernizes the legal implementation regime in two ways: on one hand, different mechanisms are articulated for the management to be developed with the due effectiveness and efficiency, for the benefit of the citizens, and, on the other, it gives a higher importance and different powers to the target people of the collaboration, the protected employed workers, the associated entrepreneurs and the self-employed or autonomous workers. 13

14 Finally, the act fulfils the mandate established in the fourteenth additional provision of Act 27/2011 of 1 August, on updating, adapting and modernization of the Social Security system, which provided that the legal framework of the Mutual Societies should be reformed. In order to meet these objectives, this act makes changes in the rewritten text of the General Act on Social Security, approved by Royal Legislative Decree 1/1994 of 20 June. Likewise, the second final provision of this Act modifies the Act 32/2010 of 5 August, establishing a specific system for protection in case of stoppage of activity by autonomous workers, removing the condition of having agreed the insurance of the professional risks to give coverage to the protection for stoppage of activity. Finally, it is considered to be worth saying that, in our legislation, the benefits of the risk during pregnancy and of risk during breast-feeding also have the nature of professional contingencies. Both refer to the period of suspension of the work contract in cases where the pregnant woman has to change her job because this has a negative influence on her health or on the health of the foetus, to another compatible with her condition, the said change is either technically or objectively impossible. VII. FAMILY BENEFITS This part has not been ratified by Spain. VIII. MATERNITY BENEFITS Act 36/2014 of 26 December on General State Budgets for the year 2015 (BOE ). It modifies the second final provision of Act 9/2009 of 6 October, on extension of the paternity leave duration in cases of birth, adoption or acceptance and postpones its entry into force until 1 January Therefore, the duration of the paternity leave keeps being of 13 days in the year 2015, extendable two days more for each child or accepted minor, from the second on. The duration reaches 20 days if the birth, adoption or acceptance takes place in a numerous family or when there is a person with disability in the family. IX. INVALIDITY BENEFITS No change, legal or other, has taken place in this matter. X. SURVIVAL BENEFITS This part has not been ratified by Spain. 14

15 XI. FUNDING Royal Decree-Law 8/2014 of 4 July on urgent measures for growth, competitiveness and efficiency (BOE , Correction or errors BOE ). This Royal Decree-Law has been validated by Act 18/2014 of 15 October on approval or urgent measures for growth, competitiveness and efficiency (BOE ). As it establishes in its motives, by means of this Royal Decree-Law, legislative measures of urgent nature are adopted. They are necessary for the implementation of the Plan of measures for growth, competitiveness and efficiency, approved by the Council of Ministers on 6 June 2024, besides other measures. All of them are aimed at increasing the competitiveness and improving the efficient operation of the markets and improving the funding, as well as improving the employability. Within the last objective, by means of this rule, the reductions of the employer s contributions to Social Security for common contingencies foreseen in Royal Decree-Law 3/2014 of 28 February, on urgent measures to promote employment and hiring for an undetermined period of time is extended to the workers partners or working partners of the cooperative societies, as well as to those who join the labour societies as working partners. Royal Decree 637/2014of 25 July, modifying article 23 of the general Regulation on contribution and settlement of other Social Security entitlements, approved by Royal Decree 2064/1995 of 22 December (BOE ). The article 109 of the rewritten text of the General Act on Social Security has been reformed by the Royal Decrees-Laws 20/2012 of 13 July, on measures to ensure the stability of the budget and to promote competitiveness, and 16/2013 of 20 December, on measures to favour the stable hiring and to improve the employability of the workers, which in both cases were due to an urgent need to update these rules for the calculation of the contribution base, in order to include in it payment items whose exclusion was no longer justified, and at the same time to improve the information to be given to the enterprises on the said items, in this way guaranteeing the sustainability of the Social Security system and the resulting improvement of the protective action of employed workers included in the General Scheme. The aim of this royal decree is to harmonize and adapt the development of the rules to determine the base of contribution to the General Scheme, established in article 23 of the general Regulation on contribution and settlement of other entitlements of the Social Security, to the legal regulation in force on this matter, contained in article 109 of the rewritten text of the General Act on Social Security. In the new draft given to article 23 of the mentioned general Regulation and following the same structure as the one in force until now, it is started, in its paragraph 1, by defining the retribution concepts that make up the contribution base to the General Scheme of Social Security, establishing the rules to value the different payments in species that are part of remuneration and that will be made up by their total amount, if their nominal value is established, and, generally, by the average cost for the entrepreneur of the delivery of the good, entitlement or service received, except in three cases: 15

16 - On the one hand, in case of use of an accommodation, whether or not the entrepreneur is the owner, or the use or delivery of automobile vehicles, the valuation will be made in the terms of article 43 of Act 35/2006 of 28 November, on Income Tax of I and Individuals and on partial modification of the laws on Corporation Tax, on the Income of not Residents and on Property Tax: on the other hand, concerning the benefit of the education service by authorized education centres to the children of the employees, freely or for a price lower than that of the market, as well as the benefit of the nursery school through the means of the enterprise, whose value will be determined by the marginal cost for these centres of serving this benefit, and, in case of loans granted to the workers with interest rates lower the legal value of money, they will be valued by the difference between the paid interest and the referred legal interest valid in the respective economic year. Paragraph 2 of this article 23 is still devoted to the items excluded from the contribution base, although with an adjustment to the now foreseen in article of the rewritten text of the General Act on Social Security, and specifying some aspects of the outreach of their exclusion. The provision in paragraph 3 of the modified article essentially coincides with its present draft. Finally, by means of the first final provision, an extension of the term for settlement and deposit of the first monthly payments of the new items and amounts taken into account in the contribution base is provided for. Order ESS/2003/2004of 29 October, establishing for the economic year 2014 the standardized bases of contribution to Social Security for common contingencies, in the Special Social Security Scheme for Coal Mining (BOE ) Act 34/2014 of 26 December, on measures in matters of settlement and deposit of contributions to Social Security (BOE ). The contribution model in the Spanish Social Security system has been characterized until now by a settlement or calculation of contributions that the entrepreneurs and all other subjects responsible for fulfilling the obligation to pay contributions have to pay according to their code or codes of contribution and all other data and information given by them, be it through the electronic transmission of the said settlements or through the submission of the respective contribution documents, without prejudice to the later control of these operations by the Social Security Administration. The said general model of self-settlement of contributions co-exists with another of simplified settlement, used for the calculation of the autonomous workers integrated both in the Special Scheme for Self-employed or Autonomous Workers and for other contributions of the Social Security system corresponding to special groups or situations. In the framework of the continuous technological advances that characterize the management of the Social Security, which have allowed to accomplish the acts of settlement and deposit of Social Security contributions by electronic means, and for the items of joint collection, by means of this law a new system of settlement of contributions is being established. It will replace the traditional model of self-settlement and it will allow to improve the management of payment and collection of the resources of the system. 16

17 The introduced new model of settlement of contributions, to be directly accomplished by the General Fund of Social Security, is characterized by an individual calculation of the contribution corresponding to each worker, within the contribution code where he or she is registered, and worked out according to the information that the said organ already has and to the information given by the subject who is responsible to comply with the obligation to pay contributions. The direct settlement of Social Security contributions and for items of joint collection established in this law seeks the following objectives: a) To simplify the fulfilment of the obligation to pay contributions, with the resulting reduction of administrative burdens, since the now existing duplicity in giving data by the entrepreneurs to the Social Security is removed, as part of the information given when registering the workers is given again in the monthly settlement of contributions done by them. On the contrary, in the new settlement system only the data must be communicated that the General Fund of Social Security does not have yet and are absolutely necessary for the mentioned settlement. b) To reduce costs to Social Security, which will allow to optimize human and economic resources and to improve the quality of the attention offered, as it is a system fully processed through electronic means. c) To achieve a higher effectiveness in the control of determining aspects for the correct management of settlements and collections of the Social Security, such as the application of discounts in contribution and of compensations for the payment of temporary incapacity, as well as of other peculiarities that influence the calculation of the workers contributions. d) To achieve an improvement of the quality of the information used for the settlement of contributions, in this way reinforcing its security, since the data of the General Fund of Social Security have to be compared and reconciled with those given by the responsible subject before calculating them. The new system of direct settlement of contributions by the General Fund of the Social Security is a far reaching change, as it affects practically all processes associated to its calculation and transmission, as well as the treatment and control of the collection and the follow-up of collections and of the debt. Therefore, the present law will introduce it progressively, and it is foreseen that its initial implementation will be simultaneous to that of the present model of self-settlement of contributions, until the total inclusion of the subjects responsible for its deposit in the Fund; likewise, the system of simplified settlement of contributions will remain for the legally foreseen cases. Anyway, the entitlement of the administered to challenge the management acts carried out by the General Fund of the Social Security for the calculation of the contributions will by no means be influenced by the implementation of the new system for the direct settlement of them. 17

18 In order to achieve the named objectives, this law introduces changes in the rewritten text of the General Act on Social Security, approved by Royal Legislative Decree 1/1994 of 20 June; in the rewritten text of the Act on infringements and sanctions in the social order, approved by Royal Legislative Decree 5/2000 of 4 August, and in the rewritten text of Acts 116/1969 of 30 December and 24/1972 of 21 June, regulating the Special Scheme of Social Security for Seagoing Workers, approved by Decree 28/1974 of 30 August. Royal Decree-Law 17/2014 of 26 December, on measure of financial sustainability of the autonomous communities and local entities and others of economic nature (BOE ). This rule establishes in its seventeenth additional provision an extension for three months of the reduction of the employers contributions to Social Security for common contingencies for contracts for an undetermined period of time, foreseen in Decree-law 3/2014 of 28 February, on urgent measures for the promotion of employment and contracting for an undetermined period of time, in respect to the contracts signed between 1 January 2015 and 31 March Order ESS/86/2015 of 30 January developing the legal rules for the contribution to Social Security, unemployment, protection in case of stoppage of activity, Salary Guarantee Fund and vocational training, contained in Act 36/2014 of 26 December, on General State Budgets for the year 2015 (BOE ). The legal provisions in matters of social contributions for the economic year 2015 are developed through this Order, according to the provisions of Act 36/2014 of 26 December, on General State Budgets for the year Regarding the criteria established in the mentioned Act on Budgets, the maximum and minimum contribution limits to the General Scheme of Social Security are modified. The maximum limit is set from 1 January 2015 in 3, euros. Since the indicated date, the minimum contribution limit for the work accident and professional disease contingencies will be equivalent to the minimum inter-professional salary in force at any time, increased by the pro-rata of the due date receipts higher than the monthly amount received by the worker, without it being possibly less than euros per month. The maximum contribution base to the General Scheme of Social Security is set in 3, euros/month or /day. The minimum base for 2015 is set in euros/month or euros/day. The contribution rates to the General Scheme of Social Security for the year 2015 are per cent, per cent of which will be charged to the enterprise and 4.70 per cent to the worker. Likewise, it is provided that the additional contribution for extra time due to reasons of force majeure will be accomplished by applying the rate of 14,00 per cent, 12,00 paid by the employer and 2.00 per cent paid by the worker. 18

19 The additional contribution for extra time considered as not referred to in the previous paragraph will be done by applying the rate of per cent, of which shall be paid by the employer and 4.70 per cent by the worker. For the contingencies of work accidents and professional diseases, the rates of the premiums established in the fourth additional provision of Act 42/2006, of 28 De4cember, on General State Budgets for the year 2007, in the draft given by nineteenth final provision of Act 22/2013 of 23 December on General State Budgets for the year 2014, with the resulting premiums being exclusively paid by the employer, will be applied. The specific bases and contribution rates for the different Special Schemes making up the Social Security system are equally established. Finally, the coefficients applicable for the contribution to Social Security in other specific cases, like those of the Special Agreement, collaboration in the management or exclusion of any contingency, are established. Order ESS/87/2015 of 30 January establishing for the year 2015 the contribution bases to Social Security of the Special Scheme of the Seagoing Workers included in the second and third group (BOE ). Article 103.Seven.2 of the Act 36/2014 of 26 December on General State Budgets for the year 2015 foresees that the contribution for all protected contingencies and situations in the Special Social Security Scheme of the Seagoing Workers included in the second and third groups referred to in article 19.5 of the rewritten text of Acts 116/1969 of 30 December and 24/1972 of 21 June, regulating the Special Scheme of Social Security of the Seagoing Workers, approved by Decree 2864/1974 of 30 August, as well as article 54 of the general Regulation on contribution and settlement of other entitlements of the Social Security, approved by Royal Decree 2064/1995 of 22 December, will be made on the remunerations to be determined by Order of the Ministry of Employment and Social Security, to be proposed by the Social Marine Institute, after having heard the representative organizations of the sector. The said determination will be made by provinces, kinds of fishing and professional categories, on the base of the average values of remuneration received in the previous year. The content of this order answers to this aim. By means of it the single bases for the contribution for common and professional contingencies are determined, according to the average values of the remunerations received in the year 2014, per provinces, kinds of fishing and professional categories. Act 2/2015 of 30 March on dis-indexation of the Spanish economy (BOE ). 19

20 Indexation is a practice that allows to modify the currency values of economic variables, according to the variation of a price index along a period. The indexation based on general indexes, like the Consumer Price Index (CPI), although it is a broadly extended convention, is not necessarily justified, or does it not render any benefits for the whole of a developed economy, like the Spanish economy. The main objective of this Act, as set out in its Motives, is to establish a new not indexing discipline in the field of public contracting, which makes up approximately 20% of Gross National Product, in regulated prices and, generally, in all income and expenses items of the public budgets. In this way there is a removal of the indexing regulation which, to a high extent, comes from times with a considerably higher inflation. In exceptional cases where the review of the currency values is indispensable, the objective of the Act is to remove the effects of the second round, linking the update of prices and incomes to the pertinent costs in each situation, in this way facilitating a higher flexibility and a better reaction of the Spanish economy in case of disturbances. However, article 3 of this act, in its paragraph 2 excludes from its implementation field the reviews, revaluations and updates foreseen in the Rewritten Text of the General Act on Social Security, approved by Royal Legislative Decree 1884 of 20 June, as well as the reviews of the rest of pensions paid with the credits of section 07 of the State Expenses Budget, whatever their regulating legislation. XII. INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS No ruling novelties in the period dealt with in this report. XIII. RULINGS ON ISSUES RELATING TO THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE EUROPEAN SOCIAL SECUTITY CODE As for the existence of rulings where the European Social Security Code has been invoked, in the period between 1 June 2014 and 31 May of this year, the Legal Service of the Social Security Administration is aware, within the social jurisdictional order, of a ruling dictated by the Social Section of the Supreme Court on 13 November 2014 (RCUD 2684/2013) relating to a maternity benefit, where it is indicated that the contesting party makes reference to the European Social Security Code of 16 April Likewise, in different Spanish social tribunals three rulings have been issued, recently notified, which, in cases of revaluing and updating of pensions in year 2013, invoke the European Social Security Code, specifically article of the said Code. Madrid, 19 June