Introduction Into The Social Security Law Of The Member States Of The European Community

The social security of the European Union (EU) has become of vital significance for persons living or working in a EU Member State. The creation of the European Economic Area and near accession of the candidate Members (East European countries) has further increased the relevance of this law. This book describes EU social security law, beginning with the rules relevant to migrant workers. Coverage includes Regulations 1408/71 and 574/72 and the case law of the Court of Justice of the EC. The book analyses the contributions of these judgments to the developments of coordination law and to the realisation of the objective of free movement of workers. In this respect the relation of the Regulation and the EC Treaty, which is shown in for instance the Kohll and Decker judgments, is analysed. Special attention is paid to the Proposal for Simplification and Modernisation of Regulation 1408/71. A second main part of EU social security law is the law on equal treatment of men and women. The Court of Justice issued several main decisions, of which the Barber judgment is a wellknown example. Since then, the case law has been further developed and this book helps the reader to understand the present state of affairs. A separate chapter analyses the combat against social exclusion of the EU and the instruments developed for this purpose. This is the completely revised and updated fourth edition of an authoritative book.

This book gives an introduction to the social security systems of the fifteen member states of the European Union.

The Research Handbook on European Social Security Law critically examines the various European dimensions of social security. The collection discusses a wide range of questions and dilemmas ensuing from the present state of European social security law, whilst at the same time identifying future lines of inquiry that are likely to dominate the discourse in the coming years. This Handbook encompasses numerous dimensions of European social security law, including: social security as a human right; standard setting in social security; the protection of mobile persons and migrants; as well as the global context of European social security law. It pays attention to both EU law and to various instruments of the Council of Europe. Throughout the book's chapters prominent experts analyse contemporary debates, discuss new challenges and point out further lines of research. Via this exploration, the Handbook provides a source of inspiration for the development of this special field of law. Covering a breadth of topic and research, scholars and practitioners alike will find this Research Handbook to be an invaluable source of information.

The aim of this book is to examine how EU law relates to and impacts on the national social security systems of the Member States. It asks three key questions. Firstly, it looks at how the internal market and its developments have eroded Member States' sovereignty over their social security systems, despite the fact that the EU has limited competence in the field. It then explores, secondly, how the Union Citizenship and, thirdly, the Charter of Fundamental Rights has affected the coordination of these regimes.

"In the past decades, the coordination and equal treatment provisions of the European Union have become of vital importance. The book gives an overview of the main lines and main developments of this significant part of EU law"--

"The European Union is on the threshold of an important institutional transformation, as thirteen states are applying for membership: ten of them, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia, will become a member by May 1st, 2004; two countries, Bulgaria and Romania, will follow some time later and Turkey is also given the perspective of accession in a later stage. Fears are often expressed as to the social impact the adhesion of these states may have upon both the European Union's social security policy and the social security systems of these states. We give a presentation of the social security systems of the applicant states in the same format as the one we used for our earlier descriptions of the national social security systems of the present fifteen member states (Nr. 1 of this Social Europe Series). This publication gives the reader an introduction into the social security systems of the thirteen applicant states. It offers the social security expert with some comparative experience the opportunity to position his/her knowledge of (aspects of) foreign social security systems within the broad national context of these systems; for others, this introduction will simplify first ventures into the field of comparative social security law. The publication also facilitates the broad comparison of the national systems, by describing them according to a uniform structure. For each country, the following aspects are examined: the concept and sources of social security law; the administrative organisation; the personal scope of application; the social risks and benefits (subdivided into old age, survivorship, incapacity for work, unemployment, health care and care, family and need); the way in which social security is financed and the judicial protection. By giving a systematised and short overview of all systems in the European Union, the book finally meets a need of many in and outside Europe."--cover.