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Europaudvalget 2018-19 (1. samling)
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2018-19

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Aggregation of periods for

unemployment benefits

Report on U1 Portable Documents

for mobile workers

Reference year 2017

Frederic De Wispelaere & Jozef Pacolet - HIVA–KU Leuven

October 2018

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EUROPEAN COMMISSION

Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion

Directorate D

–

Labour Mobility

Unit D/2

–

Social security coordination

Contact :

[email protected]

European Commission

B-1049 Brussels

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EUROPEAN COMMISSION

Aggregation of periods for

unemployment benefits

Report on U1 Portable Documents

for mobile workers

Reference year 2017

Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion

Network Statistics FMSSFE (Contract VC/2017/0463

‘Network of Experts on intra-EU

mobility

–

Lot 2: Statistics and compilation of national data’)

2018

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Network Statistics FMSSFE

This report has been prepared in the framework of Contract VC/2017/0463 ‘Network of Experts on intra-EU

mobility

–

social security coordination and free movement of workers / Lot 2: Statistics and compilation of

national data’. This contract

was awarded to Network Statistics FMSSFE, an independent research network

composed of expert teams from HIVA (KU Leuven), Milieu Ltd, IRIS (UGent), ICON-INSTITUT Public Sector

GmbH, Szeged University and Eftheia bvba. Network Statistics FMSSFE is coordinated by HIVA.

Authors:

Frederic De Wispelaere, Research expert, HIVA Research Institute for Work and Society, University of

Leuven (KU Leuven).

Prof dr Jozef Pacolet, Emeritus with formal duties, HIVA Research Institute for Work and Society, University

of Leuven (KU Leuven).

Peer reviewers:

Prof dr József Hajdú, Head of the Department of Labour Law and Social Security, Szeged University.

Dr Gabriella Berki, Assistant Professor at the Department of Labour Law and Social Security, Szeged

University.

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LEGAL NOTICE

This document has been prepared for the European Commission however it reflects the views only of the

authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information

contained therein.

More information on the European Union is available on the

Internet (http://www.europa.eu).

Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged.

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Aggregation of periods for unemployment benefits

Table of Contents

List of Tables .................................................................................................... 6

List of Figures ................................................................................................... 7

Summary of the main findings ............................................................................ 8

Introduction ...................................................................................................... 9

General overview ....................................................................................10

Evolution of the number of PDs U1 received ................................................17

A relatively small share in the total unemployment figure and in intra-EU

mobility ...........................................................................................................19

Annex I Additional tables ...................................................................................22

Annex II PD U1 Questionnaire ............................................................................24

Annex III Portable Document U1 ........................................................................25

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Aggregation of periods for unemployment benefits

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1

Table 2

The number of aggregations of periods for unemployment, 2017

The number of aggregations of periods for unemployment, by length

of insurance, employment or self-employment in Member State of

last activity,

by competent Member State,

2017

The number of aggregations of periods for unemployment, by group

of Member States, 2017

The number of aggregations of periods for unemployment, by length

of insurance, employment or self-employment in Member State of

last activity,

by former Member State of insurance, employment or

self-employment,

2017

Evolution of the number of PDs U1 received, 2013-2017

Evolution of the percentage of PDs U1 received for a length of

insurance, employment or self-employment of more than three

months, 2013-2017

The number of aggregations of periods for unemployment, as a

percentage of the total number of unemployed persons and the total

annual EU/EFTA migration inflow of working age, 2017

Table 3

Table 4

Table 5

Table 6

Table 7

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Aggregation of periods for unemployment benefits

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1

Aggregation of periods for unemployment by length of insurance,

employment or self-employment in Member State of last activity,

competent Member State,

2017

Aggregation of periods for unemployment by length of insurance,

employment or self-employment in Member State of last activity,

former Member State of insurance, employment or self-employment,

2017

Citizenship of migrants of working age (15-64), by receiving Member

State, 2016

Figure 2

Figure 3

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Aggregation of periods for unemployment benefits

SUMMARY OF THE MAIN FINDINGS

As a principle, unemployed mobile workers

will claim benefits in the Member State

last activity.

In some cases a mobile

worker’s period of insurance, employment or

self-employment is insufficient to be entitled to an unemployment benefit. In such

cases additional periods completed by the person in a Member State other than the

competent State (Member State of last activity) and proven by a Portable Document

U1 are required.

For reference year 2017, a total of 43,901 cases of aggregation of periods for

unemployment were reported by 28 Member States. In most of these cases the

Member State of last activity was Bulgaria (11,973) or France (7,347). A similar

number of cases of aggregation were reported by EU-15 and EU-13 Member States.

Only 0.3% of the unemployed persons had to rely on the principle of aggregation of

periods. Furthermore, an average 2.7% of the new intra-EU movers of working age

became unemployed and completed an insufficient period of insurance, employment or

self-employment in order to be entitled to an unemployment benefit.

In most cases the period of insurance, employment or self-employment of the Member

State of last activity was aggregated with an additional period completed in the United

Kingdom and Germany. What is remarkable is that the main former Member States of

insurance, employment or self-employment

are ‘immigration’ Member States.

Moreover, almost nine out of ten cases of aggregation in the EU-13 were completed

with an additional period from an EU-15 Member State. This is probably the result of

return migration. Moreover, only one out of ten cases of aggregation in the EU-15

were completed with an additional period from an EU-13 Member State.

In roughly seven out of ten cases of aggregation a period of insurance, employment or

self-employment of more than three months was already completed by the

unemployed mobile worker in the Member State of last activity. This is an indication

that only in a minority of cases new intra-EU movers of working age who became

unemployed worked for a very short period in the last Member State of activity.

EU-28/EFTA citizens who move to another Member State to integrate into the labour market on a long-

term or permanent basis, whether employed, self-employed or jobseeking. Within the scope of Article 61 of

Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on the

coordination

of social security systems (i.e. the ‘Basic Regulation’).

Unemployed persons who resided in a

Member State other than the Member State of last activity (Article 65 of the Basic Regulation), i.e. frontier

workers and other cross-border workers are not covered by this term.

28 EU Member States, as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. EU-15 Member States:

Belgium (BE), Greece (EL), Luxembourg (LU), Denmark (DK), Spain (ES), the Netherlands (NL), Germany

(DE), France (FR), Portugal (PT), Ireland (IE), Italy (IT), United Kingdom (UK), Austria (AT), Finland (FI)

and Sweden (SE). EU-13 Member States: Croatia (HR), Romania (RO), Bulgaria (BG), Poland (PL), the

Czech Republic (CZ), Latvia (LV), Lithuania (LT), Slovenia (SI), Estonia (EE), Slovakia (SK), Hungary (HU),

Cyprus (CY) and Malta (MT). EFTA countries: Iceland (IS), Liechtenstein (LT), Norway (NO) and Switzerland

(CH).

Within the personal scope determined by Article 2 of the Basic Regulation.

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Aggregation of periods for unemployment benefits

INTRODUCTION

As a principle, unemployed mobile workers will claim benefits in the Member State of

last activity. In some cases a mobile

worker’s period of insurance, employment or self-

employment is insufficient to be entitled to an unemployment benefit. In that case

additional periods completed by the person in a Member State other than the

competent Member State (i.e. the Member State of last activity) are required.

For the

aggregation of periods, the competent institution where the person applied for

unemployment benefits must contact the institutions of the Member States to whose

legislation the person has also been subject in order to determine all periods

completed under their legislation. Portable Document (PD) U1

or the corresponding

Structured Electronic Document (SED) U002 certifies periods of insurance,

employment or self-employment completed by a worker in another Member State that

are to be taken into account for the award of unemployment benefits. The PD U1 is

issued to the worker, on his or her request, by the institution of the Member State

where the person completed the periods of insurance, employment or self-

employment.

The SED U002 is issued at the request of the competent institution.

It should be noted that a mobile worker becomes subject to the legislation of a

Member State as soon as he or she starts to work there

(leaving aside the special

case of posting

). Hence, the aggregation rules become fully applicable from that

moment on. However, this principle is not uniformly applied by all Member States.

Some Member States (for example, Belgium, Finland and Denmark) have specifically

defined periods for the application of the aggregation principle in their national law.

Not only the number of new intra-EU movers,

their risk of becoming unemployed

and the period of insurance, employment or self-employment completed by these

mobile persons in the Member State of last activity will determine the number of

PDs U1 or SEDs U002 requested by the competent Member States and issued by the

former Member States of insurance, employment or self-employment (i.e. issuing

Member States) but also the qualifying period, which varies significantly across

Member States.

It varies from at least 4 months in France to 24 months in Slovakia.

Nevertheless, many Member States apply a qualifying period of some 12 months.

A questionnaire on the aggregation of periods for unemployment was launched in

order to obtain an idea of the size of the phenomenon.

The questionnaire applies to

reference year 2017 and covers mobile workers who became unemployed in their

Member State of last activity and needed additional periods completed in a Member

State other than the competent Member State to be entitled to an unemployment

benefit. The questionnaire only covers unemployed recent mobile workers. However, a

Article 61 of the Basic Regulation.

See Annex III.

Article 54 of Regulation (EC) No 987/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 September

2009 laying down the procedure for implementing Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 on the coordination of

social security systems

(i.e. the ‘Implementing Regulation’).

Article 11 (3) of the Basic Regulation.

Article 12 of the Basic Regulation.

Fuchs, M. (ed.), Garcia de Cortazar, C., Kahil, B. and Pötl, M., 2015,

Assessment of the impact of

amendments to the EU social security coordination rules on aggregation of periods or salaries for

unemployment benefits,

FreSsco, European Commission.

See Fries-Tersch, E., Tugran, T., Rossi, L. and Bradley, H., 2018,

2017 annual report on intra-EU labour

mobility,

Network Statistics FMSSFE, European Commission.

In general, some 11% of the new EU-28/EFTA movers (= < 1 year of residence) were unemployed in

2013 (De Wispelaere, F. and Pacolet, J., 2015,

Aggregation of periods for unemployment benefits. Analysis

of the economic impact of the options,

Network Statistics FMSSFE, European Commission.

See the MISSOC tables for more detailed information.

See Annex II.

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Aggregation of periods for unemployment benefits

PD U1 might also be received for outgoing frontier workers

and other cross-border

workers

who became unemployed

(Article 65 of the Basic Regulation).

In the past,

some Member States provided data on the number of PDs U1 received without

selecting the number of unemployed mobile persons (and thus not excluding

‘frontier

workers’ and

‘other

cross-border workers’). It cannot be ruled out that this is still the

case in the data collection for reference year 2017.

For instance, Bulgaria reported

that it is not possible to make a distinction between these categories of unemployed

persons.

A total of 28 Member States

provided quantitative data, of which five Member

States

were not able to provide a breakdown by former Member State of insurance,

employment or self-employment (i.e. the Member State which issued the PD U1) and

three other Member States

were not able to provide a breakdown by length of

insurance, employment or self-employment in the Member State of last activity. Over

the years, more Member States were able to respond to this questionnaire. This

enables us to draw more adequate conclusions. This year, Germany has reported

figures on the number of PDs U1 received for the first time. However, data are only

available for the period May to December 2017. This implies that figures reported for

Germany are underestimated.

1. GENERAL OVERVIEW

A total of 43,901 cases of aggregation of periods for unemployment were reported by

the 28 Member States. In most of these cases the Member State of last activity was

Bulgaria (11,973) or France (7,347). Also Austria, Spain and Italy reported more than

3,000 cases of aggregation. Member States such as Malta (2 cases), Romania (33

cases) received only a minor number of PDs U1.

Table 1

as well as

Annex I

give an overview of the flow of aggregated cases between

competent Member States and the former Member States of insurance, employment

or self-employment. Some 6,800 cases of aggregation were reported by Bulgaria

where additional periods completed in the United Kingdom were required in order to

receive an unemployment benefit from Bulgaria. Spain also granted 1,646

unemployment benefits based on additional periods completed in the United Kingdom.

Furthermore, a high number of unemployed mobile persons residing in Slovenia and

Bulgaria needed to prove additional periods completed in Austria (1,468 cases) and

Germany (1,341 cases) respectively.

A similar number of cases of aggregation were reported by EU-15 and EU-13 Member

States. However, aggregated results for the EU-13 Member States are strongly

affected by the number of cases reported by Bulgaria, whereas figures for France had

an impact on the total number of cases reported for the EU-15 Member States.

Nonetheless, it is clear that EU-13 Member States receive a significant number of PDs

U1 as well.

Article 1(f) of the Basic Regulation defines frontier workers as persons who pursue their occupation in the

territory of a Member State which is different than their Member State of residence to which they return as

a rule daily or at least once a week. Frontier workers will receive their unemployment benefit from the

competent institution in their Member State of residence.

Other cross-border workers have the right to choose: either they remain in the Member State of last

activity and are entitled to an unemployment benefit from that Member State; or they return to the Member

State of residence and are entitled to an unemployment benefit from that Member State.

Member States are invited to report this during the Administrative Commission of June 2018.

No data available for IE, EL, IS and LI.

CZ, EE and IT. AT and CH provided a breakdown by Member State of birth.

LT, IT and UK.

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Aggregation of periods for unemployment benefits

Data shows that in particular an additional period completed in an EU-15 Member

State was added to the short period already achieved in the Member State of last

activity

(Annex I

–

Table A1.1).

In some eight out of ten cases of aggregation a

period completed in the EU-15 was added. The United Kingdom is the former Member

State of insurance, employment or self-employment for unemployed mobile workers

who had to aggregate periods to be entitled to an unemployment benefit in Bulgaria,

Spain, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta and Romania. New EU Member States such as Poland,

Bulgaria and Romania never appear as one of the main former Member States of

insurance, employment or self-employment of the unemployed mobile workers in the

EU-15 who had to prove additional periods of insurance, employment or self-

employment. Finally, some three out of ten forms were exchanged across

neighbouring Member States.

This is the case for BE, BG, DE, ES, FR, HR, LV, LT, LU, HU, NL, PL, PT, RO, SI, SK, FI, UK and NO. For

unemployed mobile workers living in Sweden and Denmark in many cases an additional period completed in

Norway was added to the period already completed in Sweden/Denmark.

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Aggregation of periods for unemployment benefits

Table 1

The number of aggregations of periods for unemployment, 2017

200

397

1341

246

174

583

348

145

574

180

162

130

107

6,776

231

118

205

144

174

357

106

492

101

1,646

171

523

278

119

271

Competent Member State

HU MT

143 12 630

152

117

834

145

769

562

324

171

6 1,468

392

113

105

Total

863

111

928

186

3,416

801

250

1,140

1,206

141

690

609

550

164

116

1,155

2,887

321

357

239

228

113

361

10,963

512

1,912

2599 13,378

224 2,599 43,901

163

24,938

3,060

2,525

8,954

Unknown

Total

EU-15

EU-13

EFTA

Neighbour

Member State of previous employment/insurance (i.e. Member State which issued the PD U1)

261

385

458

289 14

233

105

1,171 2

329

187

3,485

3,345

3,433

1,101 11,973 329 231 1,252 187

3,407 7,347 97 3,345 29

25 1,479 62 2,536 2

63 3,433 1,044 114 33 1,526 1,067 160 134 102

978 10,477

116 555

2,984 2,529 74

18 1,299 50 2,277 1

954 84

21 1,509 564 85

101 1,167

514

192 135 21

214

17 463

329

110 183

231 1,198 2

121

678 189

54 675

593 2,889 21

34 1,013

369 19

0 1,479 558 124 93

* DE: Data from January to April 2017 is not available. The extrapolation results in an estimated number of some 1,900 PDs U1 received in 2017.

** BG: Overestimation as unemployed frontier workers and other cross-border workers returning to Bulgaria are reported as well.

*** AT and CH: Breakdown by Member State which has issued the PD U1 is not included as both Member States provided a breakdown by citizenship.

123

195

105

326

Source

Questionnaire on aggregation of periods for unemployment benefits

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Aggregation of periods for unemployment benefits

Member States were asked to provide a more detailed breakdown by the period of

insurance, employment or self-employment completed by the unemployed mobile

persons in the Member State of last activity for the reported cases of aggregation.

Approximately 17% of the reported cases were applicable to a period of insurance,

employment or self-employment of less than 30 days in the Member State of last

activity

(Table 2 and Figure 1).

Also, 14% of the cases were applicable to a period

between one and three months, and 69% of the cases to a period of three months or

longer. So, in seven out of ten cases of aggregation a period of insurance,

employment or self-employment of more than three months was already completed by

the unemployed mobile worker in the Member State of last activity. These figures

prove that only in a minority of cases new mobile workers who became unemployed

worked for a very short period in the last Member State of activity.

Table 2

The number of aggregations of periods for unemployment, by length of insurance,

employment or self-employment in Member State of last activity,

by competent

Member State,

2017

Less than 30 days

Total

EU-13

EU-15

EFTA

Number

114

291

181

105

Row %

10.4%

2.4%

11.2%

78.4%

8.4%

25.1%

More than 1

month but less

than 3 months

Number

Row %

179

16.3%

1,056

8.8%

135

41.0%

3.9%

203

16.2%

23.5%

3 months

and more

Number

808

10,626

157

944

Row %

73.4%

88.7%

47.7%

17.7%

75.4%

51.3%

Total for

subperiods

Number

1,101

11,973

329

231

1,252

187

Total

Number Column %

1,101

2.5%

11,973

27.3%

329

0.7%

231

0.5%

1,252

2.9%

187

0.4%

1,289

2,809

n.a.

293

421

380

185

n.a.

37.8%

38.2%

8.2%

n.a.

6.9%

16.0%

n.a.

0.0%

11.6%

0.0%

15.9%

12.3%

8.3%

14.0%

0.0%

24.9%

17.3%

7.5%

35.8%

n.a.

739

1,157

n.a.

512

259

215

156

125

n.a.

21.7%

15.7%

7.2%

n.a.

10.3%

16.0%

n.a.

8.1%

20.2%

0.0%

42.9%

7.5%

20.6%

32.5%

30.3%

10.2%

11.7%

23.8%

27.6%

n.a.

1,379

3,381

n.a.

1,731

2,753

742

990

757

110

n.a.

40.5%

46.0%

84.5%

n.a.

82.8%

68.0%

n.a.

91.9%

68.3%

100.0%

41.3%

80.2%

71.1%

53.5%

69.7%

64.9%

70.9%

68.8%

36.6%

n.a.

3,407

7,347

n.a.

2,536

3,433

1,044

114

1,526

1,067

160

134

n.a.

3,407

7,347

3,345

1,479

2,536

3,433

1,044

114

1,526

1,067

160

134

102

7.8%

16.7%

0.2%

7.6%

0.1%

3.4%

0.1%

5.8%

0.0%

0.1%

7.8%

2.4%

0.3%

0.1%

3.5%

2.4%

0.4%

0.3%

0.2%

353

6,786

1,334

5,005

447

42.2%

13.6%

17.4%

7.1%

28.9%

15.8%

302

5,294

2,267

2,690

337

15.7%

11.6%

13.6%

12.0%

15.5%

11.9%

1,944

26,894

15,247

9,609

2,038

42.2%

74.8%

69.0%

80.9%

55.5%

72.2%

223

2,599

38,974

18,848

17,304

2,822

224

2,599

43,901

20,327

20,751

2,823

0.5%

5.9%

100.0%

46.3%

47.3%

6.4%

Source

Questionnaire on aggregation of periods for unemployment benefits

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Aggregation of periods for unemployment benefits

The distribution of the length of insurance, employment or self-employment varies

markedly between the EU-13 and the EU-15. Some 44% of the cases reported by the

EU-15 concerned a period of insurance, employment or self-employment of less than

three months compared to only 19% of the cases reported by the EU-13.

The period already completed by the unemployed mobile workers also differs across

the Member States of last activity. In most cases, the length of the period of

insurance, employment or self-employment completed in the Member State of last

activity is longer than three months. For both Belgium and Finland this will be the

result of the defined waiting periods for the application of the aggregation principle in

their national law. Only in Denmark, Sweden, Spain, the Netherlands, France, the

Czech Republic and Norway most of the PDs U1 were required based on a period of

insurance of less than three months. The fact that France applies a qualifying period of

only four months will have an impact on the distribution of the aggregated cases as

the number of PDs U1 needed on the basis of a period of insurance of three months or

longer in France will be lower as result of this low qualifying period.

Figure 1

Aggregation of periods for unemployment by length of insurance, employment or

self-employment in Member State of last activity,

by competent Member State,

2017

100%

90%

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

EU-15

Less than 30 days

3 months and more

Total - Less than 3 months

EU-13

EFTA

More than 1 month but less than 3 months

Total - Less than 30 days

Source

Questionnaire on aggregation of periods for unemployment benefits

It is also useful to determine the former Member State of insurance, employment or

self-employment (i.e. issuing Member State) whose legislation the unemployed mobile

worker has been subject to

(Table 3).

However, the missing data for 10 Member

States

lead to a distorted view of reality if the number of cases are reported by the

former Member State of insurance, employment or self-employment. Therefore, some

caution is required when drawing conclusions.

In most cases, the period of insurance, employment or self-employment of the

Member State of last activity was aggregated with an additional period completed in

the United Kingdom and Germany

(see Table 1

–

last column).

Remarkably, these

former Member States of insurance, employment or self-employment

are ‘immigration’

Member States. Moreover, some eight out of ten cases are aggregated with an

CZ, EE, IE, EL, IT, AT, UK, IS, LI and CH.

EU-13

EU-15

EFTA

Total

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Aggregation of periods for unemployment benefits

additional period from the EU-15, whereas only one out of ten cases are aggregated

with a period from the EU-13

(Table 3).

Moreover, the percentage of cases aggregated

with an additional period from the EU-15 is much higher in the EU-13 compared to the

EU-15 (87% compared to 72%). This is probably the result of return migration for the

EU-13 Member States

(see Box I

–

see section 3).

In that case, nationals from the

EU-13 return from an EU-15 Member State. Finally, only one out of ten cases of

aggregation in the EU-15 are completed with an additional period from an EU-13

Member State.

Table 3

The number of aggregations of periods for unemployment, by group of Member

States, 2017

Member State of last activity (competent MS)

EU-15

Former

EU-15

EU-13

EFTA

72.1%

9.7%

18.2%

EU-13

86.9%

10.1%

3.0%

Total

82%

10%

Source

Questionnaire on aggregation of periods for unemployment benefits

For most former Member States of insurance, employment or self-employment a

period of longer than three months was already completed in the Member State of last

activity

(Table 4 and Figure 2).

This is also the case for new EU Member States such

as Croatia, Bulgaria and Romania. Moreover, the number of cases whereby a period of

more than three months was already completed in the Member State of last activity

accounts for 84% of the cases for EU former EU-13 Member States of insurance,

employment or self-employment and for 74% of the cases for former EU-15 Member

States of insurance, employment or self-employment.

In that respect, not only the former Member State of insurance, employment or self-employment but also

the nationality of the unemployed mobile worker should be asked. Austria and Switzerland have provided a

breakdown by citizenship. Some 13% of the PDs U1 received by Switzerland refer to persons with the Swiss

nationality. Furthermore some 44% of the PDS U1 received by Austria refer to persons with the Austrian

nationality.

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Aggregation of periods for unemployment benefits

Table 4

The number of aggregations of periods for unemployment, by length of insurance,

employment or self-employment in Member State of last activity,

by former Member

State of insurance, employment or self-employment,

2017

Less than 30 days

Total

EU-13

EU-15

EFTA

Number

205

366

113

260

178

140

519

878

126

273

3,684

224

3,033

427

Row %

23.8%

20.4%

7.1%

38.7%

11.2%

6.5%

9.0%

19.1%

10.3%

21.8%

5.0%

11.8%

1.9%

4.5%

20.6%

32.4%

7.5%

15.7%

13.1%

18.0%

6.4%

15.3%

14.5%

11.8%

7.0%

15.7%

20.7%

8.6%

36.0%

14.3%

30.5%

14.4%

12.7%

7.5%

12.9%

17.9%

More than 1 month

but less than 3

months

Number

Row %

217

25.2%

11.1%

7.8%

19.7%

446

13.7%

8.7%

12.2%

7.6%

207

18.8%

262

22.0%

9.9%

11.7%

1.4%

0.0%

17.6%

14.9%

13.8%

9.6%

186

17.4%

382

13.2%

12.5%

9.9%

14.5%

5.9%

15.9%

13.0%

18.8%

1,126

11.0%

16.0%

14.3%

14.0%

343

18.1%

3,893

13.5%

260

8.8%

3,219

13.6%

414

17.3%

3 months and more

Total for

subperiods

Number

860

108

927

142

3,267

630

236

1,100

1,191

141

685

590

549

160

115

1,071

2,885

295

352

235

227

108

314

10,194

413

1,894

28,941

2,968

23,584

2,389

Total

Number

438

789

2,455

496

173

780

669

120

524

571

289

126

745

1,984

239

263

167

175

190

8,190

229

1,278

21,364

2,484

17,332

1,548

Row %

50.9%

68.5%

85.1%

41.5%

75.1%

84.8%

78.7%

73.3%

70.9%

56.2%

85.1%

76.5%

96.8%

95.5%

61.8%

52.6%

78.8%

74.8%

69.6%

68.8%

81.0%

74.7%

71.1%

82.4%

77.1%

71.3%

60.5%

80.3%

48.0%

71.4%

55.4%

67.5%

73.8%

83.7%

73.5%

64.8%

Number

863

111

928

186

3,416

801

250

1,140

1,206

141

690

609

550

164

116

1,155

2,887

321

357

239

228

113

361

10,963

512

1,912

30,523

3,060

24,938

2,525

Column %

2.8%

0.4%

3.0%

0.6%

11.2%

0.2%

2.6%

0.8%

3.7%

4.0%

0.5%

2.3%

2.0%

0.1%

1.8%

0.5%

0.4%

3.8%

9.5%

1.1%

1.2%

0.8%

0.2%

0.7%

0.4%

1.2%

35.9%

0.3%

0.0%

1.7%

6.3%

100.0%

10.0%

81.7%

8.3%

* This is an incomplete picture due to missing data for IE, EL, IS and LI as reporting Member State and

given that some Member States did not provide a (complete) breakdown by former Member State of

insurance, employment or self-employment (CZ, EE, IT, LT, AT, UK and CH).

** Total numbers differ compared to

Table 2

as some Member States did not provide a breakdown by

former Member State of insurance, employment or self-employment.

Source

Questionnaire on aggregation of periods for unemployment benefits

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Aggregation of periods for unemployment benefits

Figure 2

Aggregation of periods for unemployment by length of insurance, employment or

self-employment in Member State of last activity,

by former Member State of

insurance, employment or self-employment,

2017

100%

90%

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

EFTA

EU-15

Less than 30 days

3 months and more

Total - Less than 3 months

EU-13

More than 1 month but less than 3 months

Total - Less than 30 days

* This is an incomplete picture due to missing data for several Member States.

Source

Questionnaire on aggregation of periods for unemployment benefits

2. EVOLUTION OF THE NUMBER OF PDS U1 RECEIVED

The figures reported for reference year 2017 could be compared with those provided

for previous years

(Table 5).

The number of cases of aggregation increased by some

6% compared to 2016.

However, the number of PDs U1 received by EU-15 Member

States decreased by 8% while the number increased by some 31% in the EU-13

Member States. The growth rates for the EU-28 and the EU-13 are mainly affected by

Bulgaria. The number of unemployed mobile workers residing in Bulgaria who had to

prove an additional period completed in the former Member State of insurance,

employment or self-employment increased by almost 70% or some 4,900 persons

compared to 2016. Disregarding Bulgaria, the number of PDs U1 received even

decreased in 2017 compared to 2016 for both the EU-28 and the EU-13.

Compared to 2016, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Spain, Croatia, Italy, Latvia,

Lithuania, Malta, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, the United Kingdom and

Switzerland received less cases. The strongest decline is observed in Italy (-1,141

PDs U1). This in contrast to Bulgaria, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Romania,

Slovakia, Finland and Norway which received more forms.

Only selecting those countries which reported figures for both years.

EU-13

EU-15

EFTA

Total

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Aggregation of periods for unemployment benefits

Table 5

Evolution of the number of PDs U1 received, 2013-2017

Total

EU-15

EU-13

EFTA

2017

1,101

11,973

329

231

1,252

187

Number of forms received

2016

2015

2014

1,433

1,335

7,057

5,861

522

122

234

229

2013

2,196

4,118

174

% change compared to

2016

2013

-23.2%

-49.9%

69.7%

190.7%

-37.0%

89.3%

327.8%

-20.1%

7.5%

3,407

7,347

3,345

1,479

2,536

3,433

1,044

114

1,526

1,067

160

134

102

3,538

7,311

146

4,486

1,779

1,960

3,670

1,788

126

1,040

123

242

182

206

2,661

2,871

7,575

1,854

4,351

3,814

2,945

105

1,590

1,057

205

303

156

2,471

8,338

370

1,149

160

1,517

-3.7%

0.5%

-33.6%

-25.4%

-35.9%

-16.9%

59.0%

29.4%

-77.8%

3.3%

-6.5%

-41.6%

-9.5%

26.9%

2.6%

30.1%

-44.6%

-44.0%

37.9%

-11.9%

506.3%

866.7%

31.6%

299.7%

29.2%

120.7%

-75.0%

-60.6%

-31.2%

175.0%

-8.0%

18.5%

-70.7%

240.0%

1,448

2,660

1,156

394

133

1,160

135

457

726

500

1,305

224

2,599

115

1,076

1,163

8.7%

-2.3%

6.3%

-8.1%

31.2%

-1.5%

-55.2%

99.2%

* Total: Only selecting those countries which reported figures for both years.

Source

Questionnaire on aggregation of periods in case of unemployment benefits

In 2017, compared to 2016, Belgium, Spain, Luxembourg, Malta, Romania and Finland

received

(i.e. ‘accepted)

a higher percentage of PDs U1 required for a period of

insurance, employment or self-employment of more than three months

(Table 6).

Results for Belgium are probably affected by the fact that since October 2016 a

waiting period of three months has been introduced before aggregating periods of

unemployment insurance. Finally, only Denmark and Hungary received much more

requests for aggregation on the basis of a period of insurance, employment or self-

employment of more than 3 months.

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Aggregation of periods for unemployment benefits

Table 6

Evolution of the percentage of PDs U1 received for a length of insurance,

employment or self-employment of more than three months, 2013-2017

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

73%

89%

48%

17%

75%

51%

48%

90%

49%

34%

59%

48%

91%

21%

55%

47%

96%

37%

45%

% change in

p.p. compared p.p. compared

to 2016

to 2013

25 p.p.

26 p.p.

-1 p.p.

-7 p.p.

-2 p.p.

-17 p.p.

-19 p.p.

-8 p.p.

6 p.p.

40%

46%

85%

83%

68%

92%

68%

100%

41%

80%

71%

54%

70%

65%

71%

69%

37%

33%

48%

77%

29%

84%

50%

57%

85%

92%

100%

34%

81%

74%

51%

55%

67%

61%

36%

30%

37%

94%

100%

58%

83%

97%

75%

67%

72%

64%

67%

56%

44%

63%

46%

39%

40%

76%

8 p.p.

-2 p.p.

7 p.p.

10 p.p.

9 p.p.

-9 p.p.

-17 p.p.

10 p.p.

9 p.p.

-29 p.p.

25 p.p.

-26 p.p.

7 p.p.

3 p.p.

8 p.p.

-3 p.p.

41%

87%

85%

22%

44%

81%

70%

62%

58%

69%

21%

40%

77%

58%

27 p.p.

5 p.p.

-16 p.p.

78 p.p.

-3 p.p.

-1 p.p.

1 p.p.

-8 p.p.

12 p.p.

2 p.p.

48 p.p.

-4 p.p.

42%

75%

44%

74%

24%

72%

75%

97%

-2 p.p.

1 p.p.

-22 p.p.

* p.p.: percentage points.

Source

Questionnaire on aggregation of periods in case of unemployment benefits

3. A RELATIVELY SMALL SHARE IN THE TOTAL

UNEMPLOYMENT FIGURE AND IN INTRA-EU MOBILITY

The reported number of cases of aggregation on the basis of a PD U1 could be

compared to the total number of unemployed persons.

In general, only 0.3% of the

unemployed persons had to rely on the principle of aggregation of periods

(Table 7).

Only in Bulgaria, Lithuania, Austria and Switzerland more than 1% of the unemployed

persons made use of the principle of aggregation of periods. A lower share of

unemployed persons in the EU-15 (0.1% of total unemployed persons in the EU-15)

Note that no data is available on the total number of unemployed persons who were or became

unemployed during the year. This implies a (small) overestimation of the share of the cases of aggregated

periods in the total unemployment figure.

However, the estimated impact might be an underestimation as the number of unemployed persons and

not the number of persons actually receiving an unemployment benefit has been used as denominator for

the calculation of this indicator. No data on the number of persons receiving an unemployment benefit are,

however, available at EU-level.

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Aggregation of periods for unemployment benefits

had to rely on this principle compared to unemployed persons in the EU-13 (0.8% of

total unemployed persons in the EU-13) or the EFTA (1% of total unemployed persons

in the EFTA).

Box I - Return migration in the EU

The composition of inflows to EU-28/EFTA Member States for 2016 show that in

several EU-13 Member State (LT, LV, BG, PL, HR, HU and EE), but also in Portugal and

France, nationals made up the largest group of incoming movers (only selecting

nationals and other EU/EFTA citizens

–

excluding third country nationals). This means

that inflows to many EU-13 Member States are largely return mobility.

Figure 3

Citizenship of migrants of working age (15-64), by receiving Member State, 2016

100%

90%

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

PT FR FI DK NL IT SE ES BE DE LU

EU-15

Nationals

EU-28/EFTA

LT LV BG PL HR HU EE CY SK CZ

EU-13

LI IS CH NO

EFTA

Source

Own elaboration based on data from Eurostat [migr_imm1ctz] (2016 figures)

These cases of aggregated periods could also be compared to the annual inflow of

intra-EU mobile workers of working age.

On average 2.7% of the mobile workers of

working age became unemployed and completed an insufficient period of insurance,

employment or self-employment to be entitled to an unemployment benefit

(Table 7).

A much higher percentage of new intra-EU/EFTA mobile workers to the EU-13 (8.8%

of the total flow of intra-EU/EFTA mobile workers of working age to the EU-13 in

2017) made use of the principle of aggregation of periods compared to new intra-

EU/EFTA mobile workers to the EU-15 (1.6% of the total flow of intra-EU/EFTA mobile

workers of working age to the EU-15 in 2017) or the EFTA (2.4% of the total flow of

intra-EU/EFTA mobile workers of working age to the EFTA in 2017). This could be an

indication of return migration for the EU-13 Member States. Especially because figures

show that inflows to many EU-13 countries are nationals who return from an EU-15

Member State

(see Box I).

Taking into consideration that most of the Member States apply a qualifying period of 12 months.

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Aggregation of periods for unemployment benefits

Table 7

The number of aggregations of periods for unemployment, as a percentage of the

total number of unemployed persons and the total annual EU/EFTA migration inflow

of working age, 2017

Cases of

aggregation

Number

Total

EU-15

EU-13

EFTA

1,101

11,973

329

231

1,252

187

Number of annual average unemployed

persons (2016)

Number (in ,000)

% cases of

aggregation

354

0.3%

207

5.8%

155

0.2%

172

0.1%

1,621

0.5%

Total annual inflow of EU-27/EFTA migrants

at working age (2016)

Number (in ,000)

% cases of

aggregation

61,707

1.8%

7,930

151.0%

29,300

1.1%

40,482

0.6%

428,008

0.3%

9,317

2.0%

3,407

7,347

3,345

1,479

2,536

3,433

1,044

114

1,526

1,067

160

134

102

3,917

2,788

203

2,907

103

192

438

248

844

465

449

224

234

358

1,448

116

147

17,859

14,966

2,624

269

0.1%

0.3%

0.0%

0.1%

0.0%

1.4%

0.4%

1.3%

0.0%

1.4%

0.1%

0.0%

0.5%

0.1%

0.0%

0.2%

1.8%

0.3%

0.1%

0.8%

1.0%

135,738

170,043

7,956

79,736

10,120

3,874

13,323

14,395

36,611

89,665

90,696

17,642

2.5%

4.3%

1.2%

4.2%

0.3%

0.6%

11.1%

0.4%

6.9%

0.1%

1.2%

0.6%

3,716

11,598

42,225

28.7%

1.4%

0.3%

224

2,599

43,901

20,751

20,327

2,823

22,860

93,875

1,420,817

1,091,239

212,843

116,735

1.0%

2.8%

2.7%

1.6%

8.8%

2.4%

Source

Questionnaire on aggregation of periods in case of unemployment benefits; Eurostat [une_nb_a]; Eurostat

data on migration [migr_imm1ctz] (2016 figures)

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Aggregation of periods for unemployment benefits

ANNEX I ADDITIONAL TABLES

Table A1.1

The number of aggregations of periods in case of unemployment

as % of column total,

2017

Competent Member State

Unknown

Total

EU-15

EU-13

EFTA

Neighbour

11%

18%

10%

30%

100%

89%

62%

10%

14%

48%

100%

88%

17%

16%

47%

100%

65%

31%

75%

16%

12%

24%

100%

72%

20%

16%

10%

52%

100%

88%

19%

29%

10%

100%

81%

13%

55%

25%

33%

22%

100%

90%

40%

50%

100%

50%

18%

33%

24%

100%

64%

12%

24%

96%

100%

99%

97%

37%

11%

10%

22%

100%

53%

43%

52%

36%

38%

100%

53%

41%

78%

14%

10%

45%

100%

46%

69%

19%

13%

100%

54%

31%

15%

19%

Total

11%

12% 0%

0% 16%

0% 12%

12% 1%

57%

13% 6%

45% 0%

1% 14%

0% 100% 0%

0% 100%

100% 100% 100% 100% 100%

88%

50% 44%

10%

2% 41%

48% 15%

23% 54%

38% 0%

26% 0%

22% 0%

0% 100%

100% 100%

76%

22%

32%

40%

31% 9%

0% 17%

4% 24%

16% 5%

28% 12%

1% 19%

0% 100% 0%

100% 100% 100% 100%

94%

91% 74%

4% 23%

71%

35% 17%

18%

12%

21%

11%

25%

0% 100% 30%

100% 100% 100%

73%

82%

19%

10%

26%

29%

Former Member State of insurance, employment or self-employment (i.e. Member State which issued the PD U1)

Dark blue: main former Member State of insurance, employment or self-employment.

** No data available for IE, EL, CY, SI and LI. CZ, EE, FR, IT, AT and CH did not provide a (complete) breakdown by former Member State of insurance, employment or self-employment.

Source

Questionnaire on aggregation of periods in case of unemployment benefits

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Aggregation of periods for unemployment benefits

Table A1.2

The number of aggregations of periods in case of unemployment

as % of row total,

2017

23%

43%

39%

42%

31%

70%

51%

29%

21%

94%

22%

49%

16%

36%

35%

21%

42%

30%

62%

12%

29%

17%

12%

27%

21%

41%

84%

16%

18%

49%

45%

23%

43%

23%

10%

19%

13%

41%

10%

11%

16%

28%

27%

10%

15%

29%

61%

15%

10%

15%

24%

38%

21%

70%

15%

12%

20%

10%

14%

10%

61%

26%

17%

31%

25%

Competent Member State

LU HU MT NL

23%

12%

19%

42%

13%

19%

18%

10%

29%

10%

64%

26%

11%

15%

51%

42%

36%

12%

16%

12%

10%

12%

11%

22%

18%

12%

13%

16%

19%

Total

100%

Former Member State of insurance, employment or self-employment (i.e. Member State which issued the PD U1)

12%

11%

16%

13%

19%

28%

20%

Unknown

Total

* This is an incomplete picture due to missing data for IE, EL, CY, SI and LI as reporting Member State and given that some Member States did not

provide a (complete) breakdown by former Member State of insurance, employment or self-employment (CZ, EE, FR, IT, AT and CH).

Source

Questionnaire on aggregation of periods in case of unemployment benefits

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ANNEX II PD U1 QUESTIONNAIRE

Number of mobile EU workers (excluding former cross-

border workers) who became unemployed in the reference

year (2015) and received unemployment benefits in your

country on the basis of periods completed in another

Member State

Length of previous insurance, employment or self-

Total

employment completed by those workers in your

country before their application for unemployment

benefits

Less than one

More than one Three months

month (30 days)

month (30

or more (90

days), but less days or more)

than three

months (90

days)

Belgium

Bulgaria

Czech Republic

Denmark

Member States of origin (i.e. the member state which issued the PDU1)

Germany

Estonia

Ireland

Greece

Spain

France

Croatia

Italy

Cyprus

Latvia

Lithuania

Luxembourg

Hungary

Malta

Netherlands

Austria

Poland

Portugal

Romania

Slovenia

Slovak Republic

Finland

Sweden

United Kingdom

Iceland

Liechtenstein

Norway

Switzerland

Total

kom (2016) 0815 - Bilag 21: Brev om adgang til velfærdsydelser og uddybende information om artikel 48 i Traktaten som opfølgning på samrådet i Europaudvalget 27/2-19

ANNEX III PORTABLE DOCUMENT U1

kom (2016) 0815 - Bilag 21: Brev om adgang til velfærdsydelser og uddybende information om artikel 48 i Traktaten som opfølgning på samrådet i Europaudvalget 27/2-19

kom (2016) 0815 - Bilag 21: Brev om adgang til velfærdsydelser og uddybende information om artikel 48 i Traktaten som opfølgning på samrådet i Europaudvalget 27/2-19

kom (2016) 0815 - Bilag 21: Brev om adgang til velfærdsydelser og uddybende information om artikel 48 i Traktaten som opfølgning på samrådet i Europaudvalget 27/2-19

kom (2016) 0815 - Bilag 21: Brev om adgang til velfærdsydelser og uddybende information om artikel 48 i Traktaten som opfølgning på samrådet i Europaudvalget 27/2-19

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