Current social and health insurance regulations as problem for borderland inhabitants working on both sides of the border at the same time

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Marcin Krzymuski - Borderland Association "Nasza Suwalszczyzna" (NGO), PL

In the course of the II call for proposals of the initiative b-solutions, the Borderland Association "Nasza Suwalszczyzna" (LT-PL) submitted the case “Current social and health insurance regulations as problem for borderland inhabitants working on both sides of border at the same time” that was consulted by Marcin Krzymuski, a legal expert hired by the Association of the European Border Regions. Krzymuski’s task was to find solutions to the obstacle posing challenges to the application of social security standards with regard to cross-border frontiers.

Krzymuski points out that the main obstacle lies in the fact that the national Polish and Lithuanian social security systems operate on diverging principles. Furthermore, social security aspects in both cases are regulated in a way that is completely detached from other relevant issues, as for example health services.

In light of this, proposed solutions are the following ones:

  • the creation of an ad hoc bilateral agreement between Poland and Lithuania to lay down specific coordination rules to be applied to the cross-border context;
  • alternatively, the creation of an independent social security system exclusively for cross-border workers, separated from the legal system of the both Member States, on the model of the “Joint Sickness Insurance Scheme” (JSIS) of the European Union.

 

To read in depth specific aspects of the Advice Case, the full report of the consultant is available here.

 

The information here provided have been developed in the framework of b-solutions, an initiative of the European Comission’s DG REGIO managed by the Association of European Border Regions (AEBR).

The reports here included are the result of a consultation provided by legal/cross-border cooperation experts on obstacles of a legal or administrative nature– referred to as Advice Cases - selected in the framework of the II Call for Proposals of the initiative b-solutions.

 

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employment b-solutions Pilot projects