Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-03-07-Speech-1-140"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20050307.15.1-140"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, I want to begin by thanking Mr Andersson for standing in for Mr De Rossa like this and by sending Mr De Rossa my best wishes for his recovery. I am very pleased with the considerable progress that has been made on this proposal, both in the Council and in the European Parliament, progress which means it can now finally be adopted. The Commission proposal before us today seeks to update the Community regulations on the coordination of the Member States’ social security schemes in order to take account of changing national legislation, to clarify the legal position regarding certain articles of those regulations and to take account of recent developments in the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Communities, especially as concerns Annex IIa of Regulation 1408/71.
I would like to concentrate particularly on Annex IIa. This Annex contains a list of special non-contributory benefits which are specifically coordinated in the Regulation I have just mentioned. This coordination, which has been upheld by the Court of Justice, is based on the principle of residence. It provides on the one hand that the benefits concerned are not exportable, but on the other hand that the new State of residence is required, on its territory, to grant the benefits provided by its national legislation. Following recent case law of the Court of Justice, it seemed necessary to review the list of benefits in Annex IIa and to check that it contains only benefits satisfying the following criteria: firstly, the benefits must be non-contributory, that is to say paid for out of taxation, and secondly they must be special. A special benefit is half way between social security and social assistance. It is special when its main purpose is to guarantee a minimum subsistence income or when it is intended solely for the specific protection of the disabled. I want to emphasise the major step forward made in the Council, since as a result of the Member States’ spirit of compromise, the review of Annex IIa resulted in a large number of benefits currently included there being removed. This mainly involves benefits which, although intended for the disabled, are intended mainly to make them less dependent by improving their state of health and their lives. That makes them special and they can therefore no longer appear in Annex IIa.
I therefore want to congratulate your rapporteur, Mr De Rossa, on his excellent report and the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs on its work. The rapporteur and the committee rightly drew attention to the major improvements this regulation will be able to bring to the citizen and, consequently, the necessity of accepting the Council common position if the progress made is not to be jeopardised. It is true that, as you know, three Member States thought that some of their benefits had particular characteristics that distinguished them from other benefits and that those benefits, five in all, therefore fulfilled the criteria for retention in Annex IIa. Not wishing to prevent the regulation being adopted, since it also brings considerable improvements, the Council agreed to keep those five benefits in Annex IIa pending clarification by the Court of Justice of its case law. The Commission has however reserved the right to ask the Court of Justice to make every necessary clarification concerning those five benefits in the light of the criteria set by the regulation. On the basis of those clarifications and findings of the Court of Justice, the Commission will if appropriate present a proposal revising the list contained in Annex IIa.
Ladies and gentlemen, we are about to make real social progress. It is no doubt regrettable that it has not all been completely finalised, but the progress is such that I believe Parliament has every reason to accept it, thus giving our European fellow citizens a further opportunity to experience the mobility people in the European Union should have without losing entitlement to benefits they need in order to cope with the risks of life. I therefore thank Parliament for its work, Mr President, and, I hope, for adopting this text."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples