Coordination of social security schemes between the European Union and Euromed countries

The presence of mass immigration in the Southern Mediterranean region of Europe requires the development of new instruments in the field of social security coordination. Many of the existing problems associated with coordinating social security systems have been resolved, until now, through bilateral agreements between Member States and MED countries. However, it is practically impossible for all 28 Member States to individually initiate negotiations with all MED countries or vice versa.

For this reason there is a growing trend for demanding that the EU negotiate and sign international agreements that grant more comprehensive bi- or multilateral coverage than bilateral agreements. For many Member States this approach can be attractive, and a very interesting means of avoiding bilateral negotiations that require a great amount of effort and produce relatively meagre results. In actual fact, the bilateral negotiations route is incomplete, which is why other alternatives are cropping up. The best examples of this are Regulation 883/04 and the Multilateral Ibero-American Social Security Agreement.

As such, European citizens working in MED States would be better guaranteed protection through European multilateral agreements or through a comprehensive agreement on social security in the EUROMED area.