Kopi af BEU alm. del - bilag 386, Orientering om fælles brev fra Danmark, Tyskland, Nederlandene, Irland og Østrig om indeksering af børnepenge, fra beskæftigelsesministeren

Ms Marianne Thyssen
Commissioner for Employment and Social affairs
Mr. Biser Pektov,
President of the EPSCO-council
Min isters of the EPSCO-council
June 19, 2018
Indexation of child benefits for children living in other EU Member States
Dear President Petkov,
Dear Commissioner Thyssen,
Dear Colleagues,
We are writing this letter in view of the upcoming EPSCO meeting on 21st
of June 2018 to
dtaw your attention to the subject of the coordination of family benefits in the revision of
regulation 883/2004.
We would like to reiterate our explicit support to the principle of free movement in the EU. In
order to maintain public support for the principle of free movement the rules must be
perceived as fair. We do not consider it fair that family benefits are paid out in full in a country
where the value of those benefits is worth twice or even three times as much as in the
country which pays them. The aim of family benefits according to regulation 883/2004 is to
cover the cost of raising a child — and in our view this purpose would be better served by
having regard to the effective cost of living in the Member State where the benefit is paid.
Additionally, in many Member States the amount of family benefits paid depends on the
income of the parents. This means that those parents who earn more and who pay higher
taxes receive lower family benefits or do not receive any family benefits at all, while those
who pay lower taxes are eligible to receive family benefits in full. The consequence of having
income thresholds for family benefits in some Member States is that those Member States
which do not have income thresholds in their legislation end up paying the full amount of
family benefits to citizens from other Member States, rather than only a differential
supplement.
We therefore firmly believe that it is fully in line with the principle of free movement to adjust
family benefits in line with the cost of living in the Member State of tesidence of the children.
Europaudvalget 2016
KOM (2016) 0815 Bilag 18
Offentligt
The anomalies outlined above are inconsistent with the rules of the regulation and should be
solved at the European level in order to create a coherent European coordination framework
and ensure the credibility of the EU. It is dear that this ‘double unfairness” was definitely not
intended by the European legislator when the coordination rules for family benefits were
originally formulated.
For these reasons, we considet it as absolutely necessary to continue our discussions on
this topic and we would urge you to take it up at the upcoming EPSCO meeting on 21t
of
June 2018.
Sincerely,
Troels Lund Poulsen
Beskftigelsesminister / Minister for Employment,
Denmark
Dr. Juliane Bogner-StrauB
Bundesministerin für Frauen, Familien und Jugend / Federal Minister for Women, Families
and Youth,
Austria
Hubertus Heil
Bundesminister für Arbeit und Soziales / Federal Minister of Labour and Social Affairs,
Germany
Wouter Koolmees
Minister van Sociale Zaken en Werkgelegenheid / Minister for Social Affairs and
Employment,
The Netherlands
Regina Doherty
An tAire Gnôthaï FostaEochta agus Coimirce Sôisialai / Minister for Employment Affairs and
Social Protection,
Ireland


Beskæftigelsesministeren
Ved Stranden 8
1061 København K
T +45 72 20 50 00
E bm@bm.dk
www.bm.dk
CVR 10172748
20. juni 2018
J.nr. 2018 - 3022
Folketingets Beskæftigelsesudvalg
Orientering om fælles brev fra Danmark, Tyskland, Nederlandene, Irland og
Østrig om indeksering af børnepenge
Til udvalgets orientering vedlægges fælles brev fra Danmark, Tyskland, Nederlan-
dene, Irland og Østrig til det bulgarske formandskab, kommissær Marianne Thys-
sen og de øvrige medlemslande, hvori vi redegør for vores holdning til indeksering
af børnepenge og opfordrer til en drøftelse heraf på EPSCO-rådsmødet den 21. juni
2018.
Venlig hilsen
Troels Lund Poulsen
Europaudvalget 2016
KOM (2016) 0815 Bilag 18
Offentligt