Skip to content On 23 April 2026, the European Parliament and the EU Council have agreed on a provisional agreement on updated rules to coordinate national social security systems.
Background
Based on Regulation 883/2004 and Regulation 987/2009:
- Citizens are covered by the legislation in one country at a time and only pay contributions in one country only.
- All EU citizens have the same rights and obligations independent if they are nationals or from another member state (principle of equal treatment or non-discrimination).
- Previous periods of insurance, work or residence in other countries are taken into account when granting benefits.
The new agreement seeks to update those rules
The new Agreement
The agreement seeks first to faciliate labour mobility within the EU. That includes:
- Ensuring a more equitable distribution of financial burden among EU-countries;
- Providing for strengthened measures to identify and tackle fraud; and
- Enabling better cooperation to ensure that workers have social security using a notification system, while employers would be able to access information and complete relevant documents online also via the Electronic Exchange of Social Security Information (EESSI).
Secondly, the agreement seeks to safeguard workers’ social rights in cross-border situations. That includes:
- Updating EU rules for unemployment benefits for mobile workers; and
- Updating the export of unemployment benefits for jobseekers moving to another EU country.
Next steps
Both the Parliament and the Council need to adopt the provisional agreement formally before the rules can enter into force. This could take months or years.
What does that mean for global companies?
While the rules are not into force yet, this agreement is a concrete step towards a change or rules and thus obligations for global companies.
The positives for global companies are:
- More legal certainty across EU markets ;
- Easier long-term workforce planning;
- Reduced risk of disputes and penalties.
While the challenges are:
- Less flexibility in structuring cross-border employment;
- Higher admin and compliance costs;
- Possible increase in labor costs in some jurisdictions.
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