What changed between the plenary report and the adopted text

Added:* Regulation (EU) 2016/589 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 April 2016 on a European network of employment services (EURES), workers' access to mobility services and the further integration of labour markets, and amending Regulations (EU) No 492/2011 and (EU) No 1296/2013 (OJ L 107, 22.4.2016, p. 1, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2016/589/oj).’;

Added:(27) in Article 57, the title is replaced by the following:

Added:‘Provisions for the application of Articles 60a, 61, 62, 64 and 65 of the basic Regulation regarding persons covered by a special scheme for civil servants”;

Added:(28) in Article 64(1), the first indent is replaced by the following:

Added:" - the index (i = 1, 2, 3 and 4) represents the four age groups used for calculating the fixed amounts:

Added:i = 1: persons aged under 65,

Added:i = 2: persons aged from 65 to 74,

Added:i = 3: persons aged from 75 to 84,

Added:i = 4: persons aged 85 and over,";

Added:(29) Article 65 is replaced by the following:

Added:"Article 65

Added:Notification of annual average costs

Added:1. The annual average cost per person in each age group for a specific year shall be notified to the Audit Board at the latest by the end of the second year following the year in question.

Added:2. The annual average costs notified pursuant to paragraph 1 shall be published each year in the Official Journal of the European Union, after approval by the Administrative Commission.

Added:3. Where a Member State is unable to notify the annual average costs for a specific year by the deadline referred to in paragraph 1, it shall, by the same deadline, request authorisation of the Administrative Commission and of the Audit Board to use the annual average costs for that Member State as published in the Official Journal of the European Union for the year preceding the specific year for which notification is outstanding. When requesting such authorisation, the Member State shall explain the reasons why it is unable to notify the annual average costs for the year in question. If the Administrative Commission, having considered the opinion of the Audit Board, approves the request of the Member State, the annual average costs for the year preceding the year for which notification is outstanding shall be republished in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Added:4. Authorisation pursuant to paragraph 3 shall not be granted in two consecutive years.";

Added:(30) in Article 66, paragraph 2 is replaced by the following:

Added:‘2. The reimbursements between the institutions of the Member States provided for by Articles 35 and 41 of the basic Regulation shall be made via the liaison body. There may be a separate liaison body for reimbursements under Articles 35 and 41 of the basic Regulation. Mutual claims may be off-set between the liaison bodies.’;

Added:(31) Article 67 is amended as follows:

Added:(a) paragraph 3 is replaced by the following:

Added:‘3. With regard to Article 6(5), second subparagraph, and to Article 73(2), of the implementing Regulation, the period set out in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article shall not start before the competent institution has been identified.’;

Added:(b) paragraph 7 is replaced by the following:

Added:‘7. The Audit Board shall facilitate the final closing of accounts in cases where a settlement cannot be reached within the period set out in paragraph 6, and, upon a reasoned request by one of the parties, shall give its opinion on a dispute within nine months following the month in which the matter was referred to it.’;

Added:(32) in Article 68, paragraph 2 is replaced by the following:

Added:‘2. The interest shall be calculated on the basis of the reference rate applied by the European Central Bank to its main refinancing operations plus two percentage points. The reference rate applicable shall be that in force on the first day of the month on which the payment is due.’;

Added:(33) Article 70 is deleted;

Added:(34) in Article 72, paragraph 1 is replaced by the following:

Added:‘1. Unless otherwise provided for in Article 73 of the implementing Regulation, if the institution of a Member State has paid undue benefits to a person, that institution may, within the terms and limits laid down in the legislation it applies, request the institution of any other Member State responsible for paying benefits to the person concerned to deduct the undue amount from arrears or on-going payments owed to the person concerned regardless of the social security branch under which the benefit is paid. The institution of the latter Member State shall deduct the amount concerned subject to the conditions and limits applying to this kind of offsetting procedure in accordance with the legislation it applies in the same way as if it had made the overpayments itself, and shall transfer the amount deducted to the institution that has paid undue benefits.’;

Added:(35) Article 73 is replaced by the following:

Added:“Article 73

Added:Settlement of undue benefits in cash and in kind and contributions ▌ in the case of a retroactive change of the applicable legislation or other situations where an institution was not competent

Added:1. In the event of a retroactive change of the applicable legislation, including situations referred to in Article 6(4) and (5) of the implementing Regulation, as well as in other cases where an institution which was not competent paid or provided benefits unduly or received contributions unduly, that institution shall draw up a statement of the amount paid or received and shall send it to the institution identified as being competent for the purpose of reimbursement, within six months of the determination of the change in the applicable legislation or of the identification of the institution responsible for granting the benefits or receiving the contributions.

Added:2. Benefits in kind ▌ shall be reimbursed by the institution identified as being competent in accordance with Articles 66 to 68 of the implementing Regulation.

Added:3. The institution identified as being competent for paying the cash benefits shall deduct the amount it has to reimburse to the institution which was not competent or only provisionally competent from the arrears of the corresponding benefits it owes to the person concerned and shall ▌ transfer the amount deducted to the latter institution without delay.

Added:If the amount of unduly paid benefits exceeds the amount of arrears payable by the institution identified as being competent, or if arrears do not exist, the institution identified as being competent shall deduct this amount from ongoing payments subject to the conditions and limits ▌ under the legislation it applies, and without delay transfer the amount deducted to the institution which paid the cash benefits unduly, for the purpose of their reimbursement.

Added:4. The institution which unduly received contributions from a natural or legal person shall not reimburse the amounts in question to the person who paid them until that institution has ascertained the amounts in question from the institution identified as being competent.

Added:Upon the request of the institution identified as being competent, which shall be made at the latest three months after it has received the statement of the amount paid or received, the institution that ▌ received contributions unduly shall transfer those contributions to the institution identified as being competent for that period for the purpose of settling the situation concerning the contributions owed by the natural or legal person to it. The contributions transferred shall be deemed to have been paid retroactively to the institution identified as being competent.

Added:If the amount of contributions received unduly exceeds the amount that the natural or legal person owes to the institution identified as being competent, the institution which received contributions unduly shall reimburse the amount in excess to the natural or legal person concerned, calculated in accordance with national law.

Added:5. The existence of time limits under national legislation shall not be a valid ground for the refusal of the settlement of claims between institutions under this Article.

Added:6. In the case of a procedure under Article 5(5) or Article 6(3) of the implementing Regulation, this Article shall not apply to claims ▌ which are older than 36 months at the date on which the procedure ▌ was commenced.

Added:7. Two or more Member States may agree on specific provisions and procedures that are different from those provided in paragraphs 1 to 6 of this Article and may, in relation to benefits in kind, apply Article 35(3) of the basic Regulation, provided that those provisions and procedures are not to the disadvantage of the persons concerned.

Added:8. The Administrative Commission shall lay down the detailed arrangements for applying this Article.”;

Added:(36) Article 75 is amended as follows:

Added:(a) in paragraph 1, the following indent is added:

Added:‘- the date on which the claim is due’ means the date by which the debt should have been paid pursuant to the legislation of the Member State of the applicant party.’;

Added:(b) paragraph 3 is deleted;

Added:(c) the following paragraph is added:

Added:"4. Where a refund of social security contributions relates to a person who resides or stays in another Member State, the Member State from which the refund is to be made may, in accordance with Article 2(2) of the implementing Regulation, inform the Member State of residence or stay of the upcoming refund, without having first received a prior request to do so.";

Added:(37) Article 77 is replaced by the following:

Added:‘Article 77

Added:Notification

Added:1. The requested party shall, at the request of the applicant party and in accordance with the rules in force for the notification of similar instruments or decisions in its own Member State, notify the addressee of all instruments and decisions, including those of a judicial nature, which come from the Member State of the applicant party and which relate to a claim or to its recovery.

Added:2. The request for notification shall be accompanied by a standard form containing at least the following information and the instrument or decision to be notified:

Added:(a) the name, address and other data relevant to the identification of the addressee;

Added:(b) the purpose of the notification and the period within which notification is to be carried out;

Added:(c) a description of the instrument or decision to be notified and the nature and amount of the claim concerned;

Added:(d) the name, address and other contact details regarding:

Added:(i) the office responsible with regard to the instrument or decision to be notified; and

Added:(ii) where different from the office referred to in point (i), the office where further information can be obtained concerning the notification or concerning the procedure for contesting the payment obligation.

Added:3. The requested party shall, without delay, inform the applicant party of the action taken on its request for notification and, in particular, the date on which the decision or instrument was forwarded to the addressee.