Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2007, published 97th ILC session (2008)

Equality of Treatment (Social Security) Convention, 1962 (No. 118) - Denmark (Ratification: 1969)

The Committee notes the Government’s report and the information supplied in response to the Committee’s previous comments.

Article 4 of the Convention. In accordance with Article 4(1) of the Convention, equality of treatment as regards the granting of benefits provided by the branches of social security for which the obligations of the Convention have been accepted by Denmark (medical care, sickness benefit, employment injury benefit, unemployment benefit), shall be accorded without any condition of residence imposed on non-nationals alone. This provision is applicable to the nationals of any other member State for which the Convention is in force, irrespective of whether or not this State has concluded with Denmark any bilateral or multilateral social security agreement. In comparison, entitlement to social security benefits under the Danish legislation is generally subject to the recipient having a permanent address and lawful residence in Denmark, unless otherwise provided by bilateral or multilateral Conventions on social security or pursuant to Community Regulation 1408/71. In order to evaluate that the requirements of having a permanent address and lawful residence in Denmark do not result in an unequal treatment of non-nationals as regards the granting of the abovementioned social security benefits, the Committee would like the Government to provide in its next report detailed answers to the following questions:

n      do the bilateral or multilateral Conventions concluded by Denmark cover benefits provided by the branches of social security for which the obligations of Convention No. 118 have been accepted by Denmark (medical care, sickness benefit, employment injury benefit, unemployment benefit);

n      do these bilateral or multilateral Conventions contain provisions expressly overriding the condition of having a permanent address and lawful residence in Denmark for the nationals of the countries in question;

n      is the reference in the Danish legislation to multilateral Conventions on social security interpreted as also covering Convention No. 118;

n      how the notions of “permanent address” and “lawful residence” are construed in the national legislation, taking into account that, under Article 1(e) of Convention No. 118, the term “residence” means ordinary residence.

Please explain, on the basis of concrete examples, if possible, what residence requirements (place of residence, length of residence, permanent character of residence, legal documents attesting residence, etc.) would condition the granting of medical care, sickness benefit and employment injury benefit (including rehabilitation benefit) to a migrant worker from Egypt or Mauritania, with which Denmark has no bilateral agreements, and from Pakistan or Turkey which have concluded bilateral agreements with Denmark.

Articles 7 and 8. The Committee notes that the European Committee of Social Rights concluded in 2006 that the situation in Denmark was not in conformity with article 12(4) of the European Social Charter because Danish legislation does not provide for retention of accrued benefits when persons move to a State party not bound by Community regulations or by agreement with Denmark, as well as for the accumulation of insurance or employment periods completed by the national of such States parties. The Committee recalls in this respect that under Article 7 of the Convention States parties to the Convention shall endeavour to participate in schemes for the maintenance of the acquired rights and rights in course of acquisition under their legislation of the nationals of other ratifying States with a view to provide, in particular, for the totalization of periods of insurance, employment or residence for the purpose of the acquisition, maintenance or recovery of rights and for the calculation of benefits. For this purpose, Denmark has concluded bilateral agreements with 13 countries, of which only three – Turkey, Pakistan and Israel – are parties to Convention No. 118, ratified by another 34 countries. Seven of these are bound, as Denmark, by the Community regulations and one – Finland – by the Nordic Social Security Convention. With regard to the remaining 26 States parties to the Convention, the Government indicates that at present there is no significant flow of migrants with these countries and therefore it sees no real reason to conclude bilateral agreements with them. The Government states, however, that no cases have been recorded of workers from one of the States parties to the Convention having lost the right to compensation for an occupational disease as result of this. While taking due note of this information, the Committee would like the Government to provide in its next report detailed statistics requested in the report form on the Convention adopted by the Governing Body on the number of foreign workers in Denmark, their nationality, occupational distribution, etc.