Coordination of classic and specific family benefits – challenges and proposed solutions

Abstract

Family benefits in Regulation 883/2004 comprise a broad palette of benefits intended to meet family expenses. The coordination rules on family benefits are based on the idea that it is irrelevant who the recipient of the benefit is, assuming that the benefit is not related to individual rights. Rather, the family/child is the focus. The children of migrant Union citizens are to receive the highest possible benefits from the Member States involved. This is achieved through the principle of exportability from the competent Member State to family members residing in another Member State, as well as through a complex system of overlapping rules for determining primary and secondary responsibility. The CJEU has interpreted the notion of a family benefit in a broad way, which includes income-based benefits paid during child-rearing periods. Over the years, it has been acknowledged that this creates coordination problems. To this end, specific coordination rules have been proposed regarding family benefits that are intended to replace income during periods of child-raising. These rules clarify that such benefits, although they are family benefits, are individual rights and are to be coordinated in a specific way. This article describes and analyses the challenges related to coordinating family benefits, with a particular focus on benefits related to child-rearing, in the light of the proposed amendments.