Ref. Ares(2017)4567158 - 19/09/2017
MARIANNE THYSSEN
MEMBER OF THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION
Brussels,
190917
Dear Ministers,
Thank you for your recent letter in which you propose that family benefits should be
indexed to take account of the cost of living in the child's Member State of residence.
The Commission's proposal is based on the principle that a mobile worker should receive
the same benefits for the same contributions as other nationals in that Member State,
irrespective of the Member State in which his or her children reside.
You have referred to the principle of redistribution within tax-financed systems.
However, also in such system, the mobile worker contributes through the tax system.
Moreover, we have found limited evidence that the level of family benefits are directly
linked to the minimum or average wage, subsistence level or living costs in any Member
State. It would not seem proportionate to apply such a system of indexation for the
children of EU mobile workers residing in another Member State.
In your letter, you consider that the procedures used by the Commission in its internal
arrangements can be of help in devising an EU indexation mechanism. However, with
limited exceptions, under the EU Staff Regulations, indexation of family benefits granted
to EU officials is based on their place of work and not on the place of residence of their
family members.
You suggest that if indexation was provided as an option, it would be for the Member
States to choose if they opt in and as a consequence support the increased administrative
burden. However, even an optional system of indexation will entail administrative burden
for all Member States, including those who do not wish to apply such a system, not only
in relation to the need to compile data for Eurostat, but also in respect of determining
benefits to be granted in individual cases. Indeed, the indexation of family benefits would
require information on the level of family benefits applicable in the child's country of
residence in the light of the family's individual circumstances.
Overall, I believe that if we agree that persons have the right to the same pay for the same
job at the same place (as proposed in the context of the revision of Posting of workers
Directive), workers who contribute at the same rate to the same social security system
should receive the same benefits.
Yours faithfully,
Electronically signed on 19/09/2017 09:13 (UTC+02) in accordance with article 4.2 (Validity of electronic documents) of Commission Decision 2004/563
ADDRESS: EUROPEAN COMMISSION, B-1049 BRUSSELS - TELEPHONE: 32.2.295 54 91 - E-MAIL: [email protected]
Andrea Nahles, Federal Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, Germany
Regina Doherty, Minister for Social Protection, Ireland
Troels Lund Poulsen, Minister for Employment, Denmark
Alois Stoger, Federal Minister of Labour, Social Affairs and Consumer Protection, Austria