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Social security systems are one of the most powerful
institutional expressions of social solidarity and an important means by
which to ensure an adequate standard of living for the people of Europe.
Since it was founded in 1949, the Council of Europe, whose aim is "to achieve
a greater unity between its members for the purpose of safeguarding and
realising the ideals and principles which are their common heritage and
facilitating their economic and social progress", has played a major role in
establishing social security minimum standards in Europe, developing social
security coordination between its member states, and monitoring developments
in the field of social security in Europe.
The legal instruments of
the Council of Europe relating to social security may be classified as either
standard-setting instruments or co-ordinating ones.
Standard-setting instruments require states to alter the substance of their
social security systems. They may have to change the amount of benefit or
length of the qualifying period.
The
European Code of Social Security and its
Protocol, as well as the
Revised European Code of Social Security, set standards in the
social security field on the basis of minimum harmonisation of the level of
social security, providing minimum standards and permitting (or rather
encouraging) the contracting parties to exceed these standards.
These standard-setting instruments set out the underlying
principles of what is referred to as the European social security model.
Co-ordination of social security is concerned with migrants, people who move
to another country in order to live or work there. Co-ordination provisions
ensure that migrants are treated fairly as regards social security. They also
aim to reduce some of the disadvantages of moving from one state to another,
particularly in respect of long-term benefits such as old age pensions.
Co-ordination provisions do not oblige states to directly alter the substance
of their social security laws. The amount of benefit, duration of payment and
qualification periods all remain the same.
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AGENDA
OF
MEETINGS
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2011
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2010
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2009
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FOCUS
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Seminar on recent
case-law of Constitutional Courts in the field of Social security,
29-30 November 2011, Strasbourg
(more...) |
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Resolution on the
application of the European Code of Social Security (Period from
1 July 2009 to 30 June 2010)
(more...) |
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6th meeting of the Committee of Experts on Social security,
29-31 March 2011(more...) |
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The 2010 MISSCEO data
is now available on line (more…) |
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Training courses in the field of social security (more...)
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JUST PUBLISHED!
- Guide to the concept of suitable employment in the context of
unemployment benefit (2010)
Order this book
- Social security -
Protection at the international level and developments in Europe (2009)
Order this book
- Human rights files, N°
23 :
Social Security as a human
right: the protection afforded by the European Convention on Human
rights
- Social security in
Europe at the dawn of the new century
Report
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