Published: 2022
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Free movement of persons would not be possible without the guarantee that citizens do not lose their social security rights when moving to another Member State, be it for reasons linked to work or for other reasons. In order to safeguard the social security rights of persons moving within the EU/EFTA, common rules are established at EU level. The outcome of the EU rules on social security coordination is a high-quality level of coordination techniques based on some key principles: a) the prohibition of discrimination, reinforced by the equal treatment of cross-border facts and events (i.e. principle of assimilation); b) the aggregation of insurance periods; c) the exportability of benefits; and d) the determination of a single applicable legislation. The Coordination Regulations only 'coordinate' the various social security systems. Consequently, Member States are still free to decide what benefits to grant, to whom, under what circumstances and for how long. Moreover, coordination can be applied only in respect of legislation concerning social benefits which are within the material scope of the Coordination Regulations. It covers the following branches of social security: sickness benefits, maternity and equivalent paternity benefits, invalidity benefits, old-age benefits, survivors' benefits, benefits in respect of accidents at work and occupational diseases, death grants, unemployment benefits, pre-retirement benefits, and family benefits. The Coordination Regulations also apply to special non-contributory cash benefits but not to social and medical assistance and certain benefits which are a compensation for damages. This statistical report provides an overview of the impact of the Coordination Regulations, both in terms of persons involved and related public social spending. It draws conclusions and identifies trends by area of social security. This 2021 edition focuses on the most recent developments in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Indeed, the COVID-19 pandemic strongly reduced intra-EU mobility in 2020. To what extent this reality becomes visible in the statistics on the coordination of social security systems is discussed in the various chapters of the report. The COVID-19 pandemic may have had a significant impact on the mobility of posted workers and persons working in two or more Member States, as well as on cross-border healthcare and the export of unemployment benefits. It is less likely that the COVID-19 pandemic had any impact on the export of old-age pensions, family benefits, and maternity and equivalent paternity benefits.