Report on frontier workers in Europe leads to proposal for legislative amendment by minister
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.
On 5 September 2018, the Minister for Medical Care and Sports, Minister Bruins, informed the Lower House of Parliament by means of a letter to parliament about his steps for surviving dependants' pensions of treaty beneficiaries.
The report ‘Grenswerkers in Europa – een onderzoek naar fiscale en sociaalverzekerings- en pensioenaspecten van grensoverschrijdend werken', was published in June 2017 by the Vereniging voor Belastingwetenschap (Association for Tax Science) chaired by Prof. Dr. Marjon Weerepas (ITEM Expertise Centre / Faculty of Law, Maastricht University) and yielded 39 recommendations. The report recommended, among other things, that surviving relatives who are not independently entitled to treaty benefits should retain their derived treaty right after the death of their partner.
In the current situation, persons who live abroad but do not have an independent treaty right after the death of their partner must provide replacement medical expense coverage in the country where they live. This creates an undesirable additional administrative burden.
The Minister included the recommendation in a proposed amendment to the Regulation. The amendment has yet to be discussed and accepted through the European legislative process, so it is not clear how long it will take before the amendment is implemented.
Read the complete document here.
Source: Central government, Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sports
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ITEM Cross-border portal launched
Monday, September 24, 2018ITEM 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.
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Second report on corporate mobility in the EU published
Friday, September 21, 2018The 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.
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Presentation Neimed during first Euregio Summer School
Thursday, September 20, 2018From 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.
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ITEM Test case: Update on DigiD for cross-border workers
Thursday, September 20, 2018Expertise 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.
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Limited attention for cross-border policy in Limburg coalition agreements
Thursday, September 13, 2018Stichting 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.
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Students cooperate on inclusive mobility throughout the Meuse-Rhine Euregion
Monday, September 10, 2018During 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.
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ITEM carries out research into diploma recognition in border regions
Thursday, September 6, 2018The 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.
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The burdensome fiscal and social security status of highly mobile workers
Thursday, July 19, 2018Due 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.
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More insecurity in border regions over increased VAT rate
Thursday, July 5, 2018What 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'.
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Recognition of diplomas: roadmap
Wednesday, July 4, 2018One 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.
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Launching ITEM's cross border portal in September
Monday, July 2, 2018Expertise Centre 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 will be launched in September 2018.
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Cross-border cooperation in coalition agreement Maastricht
Wednesday, June 27, 2018The newly drafted coalition agreement of the Municipality of Maastricht demonstrates the importance of Maastricht’s international position and cooperation, the ITEM Expertise Centre concludes. In the official document, which was signed on June 11th 2018, several ambitions on (Euro)regional level are formulated for the upcoming administrative period. The objectives are involved with cross-border cooperation, labour mobility, education and transportation.
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Doctoral dissertation defence by PhD-Candidate of TRANSMIC project
Tuesday, June 26, 2018On Wednesday June 27th 2018 Zvezda Vankova will defend her doctoral dissertation about circular migration in the Eastern partnership countries. The project is part of the TRANSMIC project and has the aim to analyse the implementation of the EU’s approach to circular migration and its impact on the rights of the economically low- and highly- skilled legal migrants from the Eastern partnership countries.
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Promotion Marcus Meyer
Thursday, April 26, 2018On 9 April, MCEL member Marcus Meyer successfully defended his PhD thesis entitled "The Position of Dutch Works Councils in Multinational Corporations".
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Jacqueline de Groot working for ITEM
Thursday, April 19, 2018Jacqueline de Groot is delighted to support ITEM in the upcoming year and a half as advisor external affairs.
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Call for participants - ITEM DigiD Survey
Tuesday, April 17, 2018Expertise Centre ITEM is researching a number of aspects in relation to cross-border work. One of the issues currently in the spotlight is the (im)possibility to get a DigiD. Expertise Centre ITEM would like to know how many people would like to use a DigiD, but find that they are unable to obtain it.
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GLaw-Net Seminar ‘International Law and the Absurd’ with Wouter Werner
Friday, January 27, 2023After short Christmas break, the Globalization and Law Network (GLaw-Net) resumed its bi-weekly seminars with invited experts who study the role of law in a globalizing world.
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Voting Matters: An Analysis of the Use of Electoral-Assistive Devices through the Lens of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
Wednesday, January 25, 2023PhD thesis written by Adriana Caballero Pérez
This study adopts an evidence-based approach and a mixed research design to explore the de facto realization of the right to vote by persons with disabilities, or the ‘opportunity’ to enjoy this right on an equal basis with others. -
Bruno de Witte and the ever-evolving field of EU law
Tuesday, January 17, 2023Professor Bruno de Witte is saying goodbye to Maastricht University, but not to European Law. He will continue to deliver his razor-sharp legal analyses at the European University Institute (EUI) in Florence.
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