Around 16 million EU nationals live or work in another Member State. To guarantee their rights to pensions, unemployment benefits, paid sick leave and other social benefits in their host Member State, the EU has established a set of rules aimed at coordinating the different national social security systems.
These rules cover the following areas of social security: sickness and maternity benefits, pensions, unemployment benefits, family benefits, benefits for accidents at work and occupational diseases, and long-term care benefits. The coordination of these systems is based on four main principles: only one Member State’s legislation applies at a time; mobile workers have the same rights and obligations as nationals of the country where they are insured; periods of insurance, employment or residence completed in different Member States are taken into account; and benefits can in many cases be exported to another Member State.
In 2016, a revision of these rules became necessary in order to adapt them to new forms of mobility and clarify a number of provisions. However, for almost ten years, the European legislator was unable to reach an agreement. The situation was unblocked under the Cypriot Council Presidency: a provisional agreement between the European Parliament and the Council was reached in April 2026. The European Parliament formally approved this agreement on 7 July 2026. The Council is expected to formally adopt the text in the months to come, following the necessary legal-linguistic revision. The new rules will enter into force after their publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
The revised rules focus on five key areas: unemployment benefits, long-term care benefits, access to certain social benefits for economically inactive persons, family benefits, and the social security rules applicable to posted workers and people working in more than one Member State. Among the most notable changes, jobseekers will be able to export their unemployment benefits to another Member State for up to six months instead of three, while new rules on posted workers aim to provide greater legal certainty and help prevent fraud. The reform also clarifies and strengthens the coordination of long-term care benefits, making it easier for people in need of care and their carers to move across borders within the EU.
The revision is an important step towards making the free movement of workers more effective in practice. By clarifying existing rules, improving coordination between national systems and strengthening cooperation between Member States, it should reduce legal uncertainty, limit abuses and contribute to better protection of mobile workers against exploitation.