Spanje wil sociale verzekeringsstelsels van Europa en Zuid-Amerika afstemmen (en)

The Spanish Minister of Labour and Immigration, Celestino Corbacho, and the European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, László Andor i, opened the "European Union-Latin America and Caribbean Meeting for the Coordination of Social Security Systems", a pioneering initiative by the Spanish Presidency of the EU i, in Alcalá de Henares (Madrid) on Thursday, which will see European and Latin American ministers and top decision makers meeting for two days.

This is a pioneering initiative by the Spanish Presidency of the EU and has received an enthusiastic response from Latin American representatives, including the Minister of Social Security of Brazil, Eduardo Gabas, the Secretary General of CARICOM, Edwin Carrington, and Argentinean Social Security Secretary, Walter Arrighi.

The meeting is taking place following the introduction of new EU regulations on coordinating European social security systems, which came into force on 1 May, and before the introduction of the forthcoming Ibero-American Social Security Agreement. The latter, devised at the Latin American Summit in Salamanca in 2005 and launched by the Latin American Social Security Organisation (OISS), will coordinate the national systems of 22 Latin American countries for the first time.

Following on from these achievements, and given the compatibility between the Ibero-American Agreement and the European regulations currently in force, the Spanish Presidency of the EU has decided to work to ensure that both multilateral social security agreements, European and the Ibero-American, can be inter-linked in future.

Talking on this issue, the Argentinean Social Security Secretary stressed the major advance represented by this Spanish initiative, since more than 1,000 bilateral agreements would have been needed between the various countries in order to achieve intercontinental coordination.

The Spanish Minister Celestino Corbacho said that “consolidating national social security systems is not only a shared hope, but also a realistic exit strategy from the crisis, which will promote growth, job creation and basic social assistance. Combining financial integration and distribution could act as a stimulus to boost the positive effects of a more equitable globalisation”.

Commissioner László Andor, meanwhile, stressed the importance of social cohesion in EU-Latin America relations. During an international crisis, in which a third of the world's population lacks social protection, work must be done to raise global standards of social protection, he said.

A final declaration will be approved at the end of the meeting, in which the parties will reiterate their commitment to the Decent Work Agenda promoted by the ILO, and plan to propose holding technical meetings between European Commission and the OISS to move forward on the potential linking up of social security systems on both sides of the Atlantic.