The Coordination of Family Benefits by Regulation 883/2004

Abstract

Two of the most important questions concerning family benefits in European Social Security Law are concerned with determining the competent state and deciding whether the amount of benefit should be fixed at the level payable in the State of residence of the family or at the level payable in the State where the parents work. The new Regulation 883/04 gives answers to these and other questions. Moreover, the new provisions on family benefits contribute to the simplification of the European Social Security law.

This paper presents the most important changes in the ‘Family Benefits’ Chapter. It then discusses the recent Bosmann Judgement of the ECJ, a judgement concerning the cross-border granting of family benefits. In the third part, the ECJ Ruling in the Geven Case is presented as an example of the consequences the new Regulation can have on national law. It is argued that the application of the new rules on family benefits in conjunction with the new, broader definition of the persons covered by the Regulation and the rules on conflict of laws can result in a lot more changes than one might think at first glance.