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Czechia wants to improve the cross-border pension payment system in the EU

by AI | 25.Jul 2024 | Europe in brief AI

Czechia was supported in this initiative by 11 member states, including Belgium, France, Germany, and Slovakia.

Euro banknotes in the wallet - illustrative image. Photo: Patrick Pleul/dpa

Brussels – The Czech Republic wants to improve the system of cross-border pension payments in the European Union. Minister Marian Jurečka, in this context, recently presented a challenge at a meeting of the Union’s Ministers of Labour and Social Affairs, calling on individual member states and the European Commission to address the issue. The challenge is in response to the fact that pension payments to people who have worked abroad for part of their lives are often inordinately delayed, and it takes many months to get money from some EU countries, the document states.

The Czech initiative has been supported by 11 member states, including Belgium, France, Germany and Slovakia. “Worker mobility in the internal market is closely related to their social protection. Coordination of social security systems for migrant workers must work effectively both during the active life of mobile workers and after the end of their active careers,” the Czech challenge states. As the document adds, in 2021, six million pensions were paid to retirees living in another country.

“If we promote and support the free movement of workers, we must also ensure that they receive legitimate social protection in retirement in a timely manner,” the Czechs say in their challenge. They emphasize that they support the recent report by former Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta on the future of the EU internal market, which calls, among other things, for better coordination as far as social security is concerned.

Individual member states should put into operation as soon as possible the so-called EESSI system, which enables secure and fast exchange of information between institutions, for example in connection with the calculation of the pension entitlements of a person who has worked in several member states during their career. The EESSI system is accessible only to social security institutions. (July 16)