EU rules on social security coordination
EU rules on social security coordination apply across the European Economic Area (EEA). The EEA is comprised of the EU Member States as well as Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland. Switzerland is not in the EEA but the rules also apply there.
The following countries are the member states of the EU:
- Austria
- Belgium
- Bulgaria
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Czechia (also known as the Czech Republic)
- Denmark (excluding the Faroe Islands and Greenland)
- Estonia
- Finland (including the Åland Islands)
- France (including Corsica, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Mayotte, Réunion, French Guiana, Saint Barthélemy and Saint-Martin but excluding Monaco)
- Germany
- Greece (including Crete and the Greek islands)
- Hungary
- Ireland
- Italy (including Elba, Sardinia and Sicily, but excluding the Vatican City and San Marino)
- Latvia
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Malta
- The Netherlands (excluding Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Saba, Sint Eustatius and Sint Maarten)
- Poland
- Portugal (including Madeira and the Azores)
- Romania
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Spain (including the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands and the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla)
- Sweden
The rules do not replace national systems of social security with a single European one. All countries are free to decide:
- who is insured under their legislation; and
- which benefits are granted and under what conditions.
The coordination rules are intended to ensure that people can both:
- exercise their rights of free movement; and
- not be adversely affected by the application of different national social security systems.
The coordination rules depend on benefits paid in EEA member states or in Switzerland being classified into different categories. Some categories of benefit must be available to people living in a country other than the country in which their benefit is usually paid. Eligibility for benefits in other categories can be restricted to only those people living in the country where the benefit is paid. Regulations for Scottish Adult DLA are drafted on the basis that it will be classified in the same way as Disability Living Allowance for the purposes of EU law.
The care component of Scottish Adult DLA is likely to be classified as a ‘cash sickness benefit’ and is therefore subject to the coordination rules. The mobility component is likely to be classified as a ‘special non-contributory benefit’ (SNCB) and is therefore never paid abroad. However it can be awarded to individuals in Scotland even when the UK is not the competent state, because it falls outwith the scope of the coordination rules (see Competent State, below).
A separate set of residency criteria applies to some:
- EEA member state nationals;
- Swiss nationals;
- UK nationals living in EEA member states or Switzerland; and
- third country nationals;
who receive Scottish Adult DLA from Social Security Scotland. The past presence test has been ruled unlawful in certain circumstances by the European Court of Justice. This means individuals covered by EU rules do not have to satisfy those tests.
The EU rules also require that some payments should continue to be made to individuals when they have left Scotland to live in an EEA member state or Switzerland. (This is known as ‘exportability’ – see Export, below) Some individuals should also be able to apply for reinstatement from abroad. (This is known as ‘first applications from abroad’ – see First Applications from Abroad, below).