30% rule gets transitional right after all

On Wednesday 15 March 2023, there will be elections in the Netherlands. We will then vote for the Provincial Council and the District Water Board. Seven of the 12 Dutch provinces border a neighbouring country. Cross-border cooperation and special attention for border regions is therefore extra important. According to Eurostat's definition, the entire province of Limburg qualifies as a border region.

The consultation round on the upcoming ITEM Cross-Border Impact Assessment 2023 has been launched! Grab the opportunity to share your experiences with ITEM! Dossier suggestions can be made up to and including 7 March 2023.

Daan has investigated how employees communicate with each other in a multilingual metal foundry in Limburg, nearby the Dutch-German border. He worked in the metal foundry for 3.5 months to observe and experience to what degree multilingualism hindered efficient communication, and the role of different kinds of power dynamics in this regard.

A lack of coordinated arrangements between neighbouring countries is making it extremely difficult to realise a successful energy transition in the German-Dutch border regions. These are the findings of the annual Cross-border Impact Assessment by the ITEM expertise centre (part of Maastricht University). 

Once again this year, the annual report of the Institute for Transnational and Euregional cross border cooperation and Mobility / ITEM offers new insights into the effects on border regions of European and national legislation and policy initiatives. The 2022 Border Impact Report is intended to be a valuable tool for policy makers at regional, national and European level to identify the effects on the border region and cross-border cooperation.

“We can only solve the energy crisis together, COVID-19 taught us this. We should not close borders like we did in that crisis, we should focus on true cooperation.” With those words, Dr. Tobias Traupel from the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Industry, Climate Protection and Energy of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, summarized the essence of the HNP & ITEM Side Event on the acceleration of the energy transition through cross-border cooperation. We should not need a crisis however, to realize this, according to Dutch MEP Bas Eickhout: “Regional authorities understand this much better than national governments: if we want to do better, we have to work together.”

The ITEM Cross-Border Impact Assessment 2021 took a closer look at the tax and social security implications of homeworking by cross-border workers in the homeworking dossier. Together with the Secretariat-General of the Benelux Union, the ITEM Expertise Centre organised the Benelux - ITEM Conference "The Future of Work - Working from Home from a Cross-Border Perspective" on Thursday 13 October 2022 in Brussels.

PhD thesis written by Eva van Ooij.
With many forms of flexible work, it seems more important than ever to map out mobility-related issues that highly mobile workers may encounter and to explore possible routes towards more legal certainty regarding their social security protection. That is, exactly, what this research aims to attain.

The topics for the ITEM’s annual Cross-Border Impact Assessment 2022 have been selected and the research phase is now well underway. The final reports will be presented at the ITEM Annual Conference, November 18th 2022.

Cross-border business in the Euregio Maas-Rhine (EMR), i.e. business in the border area between Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany, offers many opportunities. But what are the general requirements for starting up a business in the different countries? And what do I need to pay attention to as an entrepreneur? These types of questions and more are covered in the new brochure "Crossing borders as a self-employed professional between Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany".

This issue was discussed on 17 February 2022 by the ITEM Expertise Centre with representatives of the specialised advisory and border information services in the cultural sector, as well as politicians and (local) authorities of the EMR. In successful cooperation with the ZZP-fabriek, the GrenzInfoPunt Aachen-Eurode (GIP) and the cooperation Smart, an online expert meeting in the shape of a round table was organised as part of the Interreg V youRegion project.

Maastricht University (UM) is located at the heart of the Meuse-Rhine Euregion. The borders are barely visible, but that does not mean that they can’t put a brake on the development of the region. UM is committed to making these obstacles visible and, on the basis of scientific research, initiating a debate to amend legislation and regulations in Europe.

The consultation round on the upcoming ITEM Cross-Border Impact Assessment 2022 is herewith launched! Grab the opportunity to share your experiences with ITEM! Dossier suggestions can be made up to and including 23 January 2022.

The importance of cross-border cooperation manifests itself more than ever during the coronapandemic. Multi-level governance is the foundation for taking the next steps; looking for each other and perpetuating relationships at all levels, in administration, politics and practice. This became clear during the ITEM annual conference on 19 November, which focused on the lessons learned, opportunities and challenges of cross-border cooperation. Watch the video recap. 

Due to the Corona crisis, also many cross-border workers are forced to work in their home country. They have been asked not to cross the border to come to their office situated in the neighbouring country. At the moment, this is only possible because the Dutch, Belgian and German governments have agreed on special exemptions from certain rules until the rest of this year. Otherwise, these frontier workers would face major changes with respect to their social security contribution, taxes and health care. But what, if governments and employers from now on will permanently stimulate that employees work more days from home? ITEM has found out that this would have tremendous consequences for cross-border work if legislation does not change accordingly. This is one out of four case of this year’s research into border effects.

The pandemic has called into question the idea of a Europe without frontiers. Sarah Schoenmaekers and Martin Unfried—specialists in EU law and Euregional cooperation, respectively—search for answers.

Buying a house abroad, with the complex procedures of rules and formalities that apply in the world of real estate transactions, one might wonder: what obstacles might I encounter? In her dissertation, Katja Zimmermann examined the operation and obstacles of various land registration systems. Her research resulted in well-considered proposals for the facilitation of cross-border real estate transactions.

The Dutch Ministry of Finance has updated the guideline on the tax qualification policy of foreign social security schemes. According to expertise centre ITEM, the addition concerning certain German social insurances is a positive development, which is in line with their vision and commitment in respect of cross-border pension regulations. The tax treatment of, among others, liberal professions and professional soldiers is addressed.

The consultation round on the upcoming ITEM Cross-Border Impact Assessment 2021 is herewith launched! Grab the opportunity to share your experiences with ITEM! Dossier suggestions can be made up to and including 18 January 2021.

Imagine you live in Belgium and have been working in the Netherlands for years. But unlike your Dutch colleagues, you can’t access your pension information online. That is because you are not entitled to a DigiD, which is the identity verification service of the Dutch government. To help make life easier for this real-life Belgian worker and all the other cross-border workers, Dr. Alexander Hoogenboom took up the case.

In border regions, national approaches to managing the corona crisis sometimes seem absurd. This is shown by the Cross-Border Impact Assessment 2020 that expertise centre ITEM publishes today. The report on the cross-border coordination, or non-coordination, of crisis response during the ‘first wave’ of the COVID-19 pandemic is one of six dossiers that examine the impact of policy and legislation on cross-border regions.

On 18 September Dutch Minister Koolmees answered parliamentary questions about the possibility for pensioners abroad to pass on their proof of life via an app. This concerns a case in which ITEM, together with Advisor on Frontier Work for the MEP Jeroen Lenaers, has worked on in favour of persons receiving pension benefits abroad. The current approach responds to earlier ITEM recommendations and sets the stage for the unhindered enjoyment of cross-border pension payments.

DigiD is known as the quick and easy identification system for use of government websites. Sadly, in the past frontier workers seemed to be excluded from this service. In accordance with the ruling of the Council of State, the Dutch government has officially expanded the DigiD provision. Meaning that, as of today, frontier workers are able to apply for a DigiD. ITEM reports how this decision came about and what it means.

Since August 2020 ITEM has moved to a beautiful historic building of Maastricht University in the city centre of Maastricht. In addition, ITEM has a new coordinator, Pascal Vossen, who runs the daily office since this spring.

Discoordination at the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak caused numerous bottlenecks in the border regions, which proved to have negative effects on Euregional cooperation. The PANDEMRIC project (Interreg V-A Euregio Maas-Rijn), aimed at promoting Euroregional cooperation in the field of health care, may offer opportunities for optimal cross-border crisis management.

In an ideal European Union everyone should be able to work and study in a Member State of their choice. This is difficult in practice, according to research by lawyer Lavinia Kortese, a researcher at ITEM. Lavinia dived into the maze of rules and has written recommendations that benefit mobility in the EU.
 

Researchers from ITEM, the Maastricht University institute that specialises in research on the effects of national and European legislation on the border region, compared the support offered to self-employed businesspeople by the Dutch, German and Belgian governments. They found that self-employed people who work in the Netherlands but live in Belgium or Germany are ineligible for support. Their advice: follow the Belgian model.

ITEM’s main task is to help remove border barriers within the EU. That is why we publish a detailed annual report on which we regard as the key issues that could create such barriers.

On 27 January 2020, the ninth edition of the Maastricht Pensions Seminar took place. The theme of the seminar was 'Pensions: Outside In - The old age: a new role for the pension sector towards more prosperity, or more well-being?

A Belgian resident successfully brought a case to court with the help of the ITEM Expertise Centre, because she did not receive a DigiD.

As ‘grant PhD students’ are not paid by the university but receive funding via an external (foreign) scholarship, they are not entitled to a child care allowance in the Netherlands.

The consultation round on the upcoming ITEM Cross-Border Impact Assessment 2020 has been launched.

The province of Limburg will support expertise centre ITEM with a grant of 3 million euros over the next 5 years. 

On 21 and 22 November, the fifth annual conference, so an anniversary edition, of ITEM took place in the Province of Overijssel. Policy makers, politicians and scientists came together in Enschede to build cross-border cooperation.

The ITEM Cross-Border Impact Assessment 2019 has been published. With its annual Cross-Border Impact Assessment, the Institute for Transnational and Euregional cross-border cooperation and Mobility / ITEM provides more insight into European and national legislative and policy initiatives and its border-effects.

PhD thesis written by Bastiaan Didden. 
Bastiaan, PhD candidate in tax law, looked into how the EU borders affect pensions, social security and taxes when working across a border. He has found out that there are quite some uncertainties when it comes to these subjects. This is because the EU-member states are in large part independent concerning their taxes, pensions and social security rules. 

The free movement of workers is an important idea that the EU is built upon. Maastricht University researcher Bastiaan Didden, studied how the free movement of workers in The Netherlands, Belgium and Germany works in practice. He looked into how the EU borders affect pensions, social security and taxes when working across a border.

On Thursday 10 October, a report concerning migration of asylum permission holders was published by the Research and Documentation Centre of the Ministry of Security and Justice (WODC) and Statistics Netherlands (CBS). This report is co-authored by Marloes de Hoon, a PhD candidate who is conducting research into mobility of refugees under the umbrella of the Institute for Transnational and Euregional cross border cooperation and Mobility (ITEM) at Maastricht University and affiliated to Statistics Netherlands. The report is co-authored with Arjen Leerkes, professor at Maastricht University and research fellow at WODC.

The B-solutions project ‘Roadmap and factsheet for the recognition of qualifications for highly demanded professionals’ has been successfully concluded with the launch of the first roadmaps and factsheets.

Electric mobility is the future? According to ITEM researcher Martin Unfried it sure is!

On 23 September 2019, the MoveS seminar Netherlands took place in Maastricht. The theme of this seminar was "Freedom of movement in the Euregion Meuse-Rhine" and was jointly organised by MoveS, Prof. Anne Pieter van der Mei and Expertise Centre ITEM.

Do you work at a Dutch university or university hospital and at the same time across the border in Belgium or Germany (including home office)? Then there may be changes in your social security situation as a result of the Act on the normalisation of the legal status of civil servants (Wnra), which will take effect on 1 January 2020.

ITEM celebrated its fifth birthday on 23 August 2019.

After an initial inventory conducted by ITEM, the Dutch and Flemish governments have decided to follow up by investigating possible solutions for border barriers that are faced by the cross-border North Sea Port, which is a merged Belgian-Dutch company.

In a letter to the Minister of Social Affairs and Employment, Wouter Koolmees, the Standing Committee on Social Affairs and Employment (SZW) of the Dutch Upper House of Parliament refers to the cross-border impact assessment, which is conducted by ITEM, as an instrument to help prevent border problems.

The third report of the ITEM/ICGI project on ‘Cross-Border Corporate Mobility in the EU’ has now been published. The report builds upon the earlier reporting on cross-border corporate activity and features a comprehensive country-by-country reporting to provide a fuller picture of cross-border company mobility in the EU.

The Limburg University Fund/SWOL has awarded a grant of 5000 euros for bachelor’s students to conduct research into the internationalisation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Dutch border provinces of Limburg and Drenthe.

The Court of Justice of the European Union stops the planned tax. Two years ago, the research institute ITEM concluded in a study within the framework of the annual Cross-border impact assessment that the German Autobahn toll is legally questionable and in breach of European law.

The Advocate General of the European Court of Justice (hereafter: A-G) E. Sharpston has come to the conclusion that Dutch frontier workers living in the Netherlands and working in so-called mini-jobs in Germany are still entitled to Dutch retirement pensions and child benefits.

In the context of De Atlas voor Gemeenten 2019   , it became clear that South Limburg has potential. Not just any potential, but even has the ability to grow into "a top region with one of the largest (eu) regional economies in the Netherlands". This is a passage from the recently published Zuid-Limburg cooperation agenda  . Last Friday ITEM PhD student Stefan Bemelmans was interviewed by RTV Maastricht about possible border barriers that could prevent South Limburg from growing.

On the eve of Europe Day, to celebrate awareness and cooperation in Europe, ITEM (UM) and UHasselt signed their cooperation covenant.

On Wednesday 8 May, an innovative project to improve cross-border cooperation was launched by Flemish Prime Minister Bourgeois and State Secretary Knops. This project investigates how permits, procedures and other relevant regulations can be better coordinated in order to stimulate cross-border infrastructure. The initiative was supported by an initial inventory of the situation of North Sea Port, a merged Belgian-Dutch company. ITEM had been commissioned by the Province of Zeeland and the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations to look into the company's legal bottlenecks.

On 8 May, the Institute for Transnational and Euregional cross-border cooperation and Mobility (ITEM) of Maastricht University (UM) and UHasselt sign a cooperation agreement in the field of cross-border research in the presence of the governors of the provinces of Belgian and Dutch Limburg. 

Candidate for the European elections, Jacques Michel Bloi has started as an external relations advisor at the ITEM Expertise Centre at Maastricht University. Jacques Michel Bloi will work as a representative of ITEM to form a link between science, politics and policy. The main focus will be on the German contacts. 

From 7 April 2019 to 10 April 2019, ten students from the two universities and seven supervisors travelled to Switzerland to gain insights into the Swiss pension system. From ITEM, Anouk Bollen-Vandenboorn, Sander Kramer and Pim Mertens went along as supervisors. During this trip, Sander Kramer also presented his PhD research 'Towards cross-border pension information provision: pensions, taxes and securing pension adequacy'

ITEM researcher Martin Unfried presented the research results of the North Sea Port project to the Belgian ambassador to the Netherlands, Mr Dirk Achten, on 17 April 2019.  

At the end of March and the beginning of April, the media again published some disturbing reports about the planned changes to the unemployment schemes in the European regulation on social security and the possible misuse of Dutch benefits by foreign workers.

In this report, we briefly set out the facts regarding the unemployment proposals. What changes are on the European table? What determines Dutch unemployment legislation? Are the headlines right and do the (Dutch) politicians tell the whole story?

ITEM has announced the dossiers for the 2019 ITEM Cross-border Impact Assessment. The Cross-border Impact Assessment is one of ITEM's core activities, which investigates the effects of existing and future legislation and regulations on the border regions.

In a project led by the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASoS), PhD candidates will conduct research into the hardening and softening of borders in Europe.

On 29 April, official candidates for the Presidency of the European Commission debated in Maastricht as part of the campaign for the European elections held later in May this year (23-26 May). This debate was broadcasted live across the European Union. The 90-minute event featured the front-runners to replace Jean-Claude Juncker as President of the European Commission.

The project “Roadmap and factsheet for the recognition of qualifications for highly demanded professions” is aimed at creating two practical documents per highly demanded profession aimed at boosting cross-border mobility and employability by improving recognition. The project was submitted by the Province of Limburg (NL) as lead applicant and is carried out by the ITEM Expertise Centre.

In the EU, the mobility of many professionals is governed by the Professional Qualifications Directive. The instrument was introduced in 2005 and adapted in 2013. Due to be implemented on 18 January 2016, the directive’s transposition apparently leaves much to be desired. On 7 March 2019 the Commission issued a large number of infringement proceedings against the Member States for having incorrectly transposed the directive.

It has appeared in several cases already: PhD candidates with a scholarship who do not receive childcare allowance. Recently, Minister Van Engelshoven of Education, Culture and Science answered parliamentary questions about the right to childcare allowance for PhD candidates. The answers she gives are in line with the well-known arguments of the Dutch Tax Administration. Expertise centre ITEM questions these arguments on the basis of European law.

On 28 January, the eighth edition of the Maastricht Pension Seminar took place. The theme of the meeting was 'Pension: Outside in - Pension in Europe: The Netherlands the last dinosaur?’.

The 'Grenzeloos Ondernemen Magazine Kerkrade' interviewed Matthijs Huizing, external relations advisor of ITEM about the importance of opportunities in border regions.

Little structural cross-border cooperation takes place between organisations in the Euregio Meuse-Rhine (EMR) that offer services for newcomers. Existing cooperation seems to be limited to sporadic exchanges of information, expertise centre ITEM (Maastricht University) concludes in the report ‘Inventory of Services and Activities for Newcomers in the Euregion Meuse-Rhine’.

Which kind of legal instrument can offer an effective solution for the province of Limburg to better tackle border-specific legal problems? How can Limburg obtain a certain 'mandate' to play an active role in solving legal border obstacles? This question is answered in the research report Statuut voor Limburg. The report has been carried out by Expertise Centre ITEM (Maastricht University) on behalf of the Province of Limburg.

Pensioners who emigrate within the EU and wish to continue to receive their pension must periodically send in a life certificate to various institutions. In practice, this means that a pensioner has to travel to competent authorities several times a year at their own expense in order to have the correct documents authenticated. ITEM commits to reduce this administrative hassle.

Are foreign researchers entitled to childcare benefit in the Netherlands? Expertise Centre ITEM investigated a case and concluded that the tax authorities don’t take sufficient account of European rules in the matter. ITEM has filed the case with the court, which is expected to rule soon.

Although several measures have been taken in recent years to solve problems in cross-border employment, harmonisation of tax and social security systems between countries is still a bridge too far, Professor Marjon Weerepas stated in her inaugural speech entitled 'Border workers: coordinating, not because it is not possible, but because it is necessary'. 

On 16 November, the fourth annual ITEM (Institute for Transnational and Euregional cross-border cooperation and Mobility) conference took place. Around 120 experts and scientists from several countries gathered in Brussels to discuss the theme 'Cross-border cooperation: challenges ahead'.

On 19 November Prof. dr. Anouk Bollen (ITEM / Maastricht University, Faculty of Law), was a guest on the regional television programme L1 AvondGasten. Together with members of the European Parliament she took part in a discussion about several European themes. They discussed ITEM's focus, as well as the recently published Cross-border Impact Assessment. The discussion was led by Sander Kleikers of L1.

On 15 November 2018, an ITEM Benelux Workshop about recognising qualifications took place at the Benelux Secretariat General in Brussels. The workshop brought together different stakeholders at the regional, national and European levels.

In March the German coalition agreed to a subsidy aimed at stimulating young families' own home ownership financially. Only  people living in Germany are eligible. What does this mean for taxpaying frontier workers? The Baukindergeld was examined in the framework of ITEM’s annual Cross-border Impact Assessment .

The ITEM Cross-border Impact Assessment 2018 has been published! The report is intended as a valuable tool for policy makers at regional, national and European level when taking decisions on legislation and regulations with (additional) effects for border regions.

In order to cope with labour market shortages and abundances in the area of child care work it has been proposed that Dutch child care workers be employed across the border in Germany. However, recognition procedures have proven to stand in the way of the swift labour market access of Dutch child care workers. A current complaint procedure is aimed at finding out whether the cross-border mobility of child care workers may be facilitated. 

On invitation of the Rapporteur Matthijs van Miltenburg, Martin Unfried of expertise centre ITEM participated in an expert panel about a cross-border mechanismorganised by the ALDE Group on 18 October 2018.

In the Belastingplan 2019 (Dutch Tax Plan 2019) Amendment Memorandum, the State Secretary for Finance announced that the reduction of the 30% ruling from 8 to 5 years will be granted a transitional period after all. The new duration of the ruling depends on the current end date.

The Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sports has responded in a letter to the House of Representatives, which has ensured that a recommendation from the report Grenswerkers in Europa (frontier workers in Europe) has been resolved.

A first document has been published as part of the B-Solutions project “Roadmap and factsheet for the recognition of qualifications for highly demanded professions”. The goal of the project, submitted by the Province of Limburg (NL) as lead applicant and carried out by Expertise Centre ITEM, is to develop roadmaps and factsheets aimed at boosting cross-border mobility and employability by improving recognition

Labour market experts Inge Hooijen and Julia Reinold researched the mobility behaviour of graduates in the Meuse–Rhine Euroregion – and found that big life decisions are down to more than an attractive labour market.

MUMC+ is cooperating with parties in the Euregio Meuse-Rhine on the establishment of a Euregional Centre for Paediatric Surgery. This process leads to a large number of questions and challenges. One of these concerns the education and training of paediatric surgeons in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany and their mobility between the three countries. ITEM researches this topic on behalf of the MUMC+.

The activities for the B-Solutions project “Roadmap and factsheet for the recognition of qualifications for highly demanded professions” have recently started. This project, submitted by the Province of Limburg (NL) as lead applicant and carried out by ITEM, brings together partners along the Dutch border comprising partners from the Netherlands, Belgium, North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony. 

Cross-border work involves a lot to be taken into account. A much-discussed aspect is the recognition of qualifications. During these procedures, competent authorities check whether a person's diplomas and professional experience meet certain standards. Such processes are anything but obvious. In order to provide clarity in the complex subject matter, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science has commissioned Expertise Centre ITEM to draw up a set of explanatory documents. Expertise Centre ITEM is pleased to announce the publication of these documents.

ITEM supports and promotes - from science - the euregional and transnational functioning of society. In order for society to use ITEM's research, a cross-border portal was launched on September 24th, 2018 during a GIPTOGETHER-meeting of cross-border information points in Eupen.

The second report of the ITEM/ICGI project on ‘Cross-Border Corporate Mobility in the EU’ has now been published. The report identifies a continuous cross-border corporate activity and features a comprehensive country-by-country reporting to provide a fuller picture of cross-border company mobility in the EU.

Expertise Centre ITEM investigates a number of aspects in relation to cross-border work. One obstacle that cross-border workers face involves obtaining a 'DigiD', the Dutch digital identification system. Regarding this obstacle proceedings were initiated in recent months, which have led to a ruling of the District Court of The Hague. Unfortunately, this ruling is not satisfactory, and an appeal has been lodged.

From 10 to 15 September 2018, the cross-border and multidisciplinary Euregio Summer School in the Meuse-Rhine Euroregion was organised for the first time. 45 students from higher education institutions and representatives from knowledge institutes in the Euroregion came together with one goal: to develop visions of the future on the theme 'Improving inclusive Mobility in the Digital Age' in the Meuse-Rhine Euroregion.

Stichting Geen Grens: "New municipal coalitions in Limburg often overlook foreign affairs". The newly appointed municipal authorities in Limburg are aware that their municipality has foreign borders, but many coalitions do not take this into account in their policy plans. This concludes the Stichting Geen Grens (No Border Foundation) after comparing the 30 new coalition agreements in Limburg.

During the second week of September 2018, the first Euregio Summer School will be held. The week will be devoted to working together on the topic of cross-border mobility in the digital age and will take place at a number of locations within the Meuse-Rhine Euregion.

The Province of Limburg has commissioned the ITEM Expertise Centre to carry out research into the recognition of diplomas in border regions. In June, the European Union's B-solution project awarded a grant for a pilot project to increase transparency in the field of diploma recognition for highly demanded professions.

Due to globalization and the increasingly integrated nature of regional economies, workers largely operate cross-border on a highly mobile basis. Because of this highly mobile character of activities, difficulties arise regarding the place of exercise of employment for tax purposes, and affiliated (dis)coordination difficulties between tax and social security rules.

What does the announced VAT increase mean for the Dutch border regions? Read more on the results and recommendations in ITEM's report 'Verkenning van grenseffecten van verhoging lage Btw-tarief'.

One of the projects that has been submitted in the B-solutions call from the European Commission is about a roadmap for the recognition of qualifications. The roadmap and factsheet for the recognition of qualifications concerning highly demanded professions are aimed at boosting cross-border mobility and employability by improving recognition.