1. Organisation and coordination of a network on the EU
coordination of social security schemes in EU/EEA/CH
training and reporting on
European Social Security
trESS III
 trESS was established in 2005 and is financed by the
European Commission (DG Employment, Social Affairs
and Inclusion)
 It is implemented by Ghent University in collaboration
with independent experts from 31 countries
 trESS III runs from 2011 to 2014

2. Objectives
 increase the knowledge base on the coordination
regulations
 build networks between people professionally
involved in social security coordination all over Europe
 report to the EC on the implementation of the EU
Regulations
 undertake legal and statistical analysis with regard to
topics connected with social security coordination
 provide analytical support to the European
Commission in relation to the application of social
security coordination legislation

3. Main activities
 training & networking
 information-sharing
 reporting & analysis

4. Highlights trESS III
 National seminars replaced by ‘specialised’
seminars
 trESS now covers also the EEA countries
(Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein) and Switzerland
 Some new tasks added
 analytical support to the EC (requests for information,
contribution to studies)
 mapping and analysis of statistics on social security
coordination
 Network extended with specific areas of
expertise

5. Training & Networking
Target groups
Social security institutions and authorities
Social partners
NGOs
Judges and lawyers
Independent experts confronted with problems of implementation
Activities:
Specialised seminars
E-learning module
Contact database
Regular E-newsletters
Social media

6. Specialised seminars
 Ca. 10 seminars per year, determined in accordance with a
procedure of “internal calls for proposals”
 All countries covered at least once over the course of the project
 Wide variety of seminars
 Awareness-raising, practically-oriented or analytical
 General or focused on one particular topic/target group
 National, bi-or multilateral, in cooperation with other stakeholders
 Attended by experts from the Commission and trESS
 Reports written by seminar reporters
 Agenda and PPT presentations posted on trESS website
 Participant satisfaction is monitored – Please complete the brief
participant satisfaction survey distributed at the seminar

7. Seminar calendar 2012
Latvia-Lithuania (Riga) 19 April
• Cases*(Rome)
Italy 30 May
Greece (Athens) 27 June
Switzerland (Fribourg) 28 June
Estonia-Finland (Tallinn) 4 September
Cyprus (Nicosia) 24 September
Spain (Seville) 27 September
Slovakia (Bratislava) 9 October

8. Networking
Austria 73 Hungary 57 Slovak Rep. 41
Belgium 125 Ireland 29 Slovenia 72
Bulgaria 73 Italy 71 UK 130
Cyprus 65 Lithuania 45 Switzerland 2
How to join?
Czech Rep. 72 Luxembourg 37 Norway 1
• By sending a request to join
to tress@ugent.be
Germany 53 Latvia 50 Liechtenstein 1
Denmark 51 Malta 109 Iceland 1
Estonia 55 The Netherlands 109 Other 12 • By submitting a request via
Greece 54 Poland 160 the website
Spain 73 Portugal 127
TOTAL 2175
Finland 119 Romania 111 * Status April 2012 Current members are kindly
France 155 Sweden 42 requested to keep their details
updated

9. Networking
Subscriber status
2007 1732
2009 2732
2010 3210
2011 3513
April 2012 3575
4 issues per year
Contents
 Information on the project and its activities
 Interviews with top experts in the field of social security coordination
 Trends, challenges and developments in the field of coordination
 Case law reviews & developments at legislative level

10. Information-sharing: www.tress-network.org
Open access
 seminar information
 e-learning
 national resources
 European resources
 e-newsletter
Restricted access
 contact database
 internal project matters

11. Website: e-learning module
General introduction into social
security coordination
Glossary of 70 keywords,
reflecting main concepts of social
security coordination, with 190
questions & answers
Updated as necessary

12. Website: national resources
 National case law
 National bibliography
 Seminar information

13. Website: European resources
 European Reports (2008 -)
 Think Tank Reports (2008 -) & Analytical Reports (2011 -)
 Texts of the main Regulations (in all available languages)
 Regulations database
 Articles of the Regulations linked
with relevant information
 Latest developments
Linkage between articles of
883/2004 and implementing articles of 987/2009
Linkage between articles of 883/2004 and 987/2009, and relevant
decisions of the Administrative Commission
Selection of historical leading cases among case law linked to
1408/71 and 574/72

14. NEW: social media pages
 trESS on LinkedIn and Facebook
 Regular news updates on EU social security coordination
 Messages, comments and opinions
 How to join?
 Become a member of LinkedIn
and/or Facebook
 Join the trESS pages
 A direct link to the trESS social
media pages is available on the
homepage of the trESS website

15. Reporting on implementation
Yearly reports on the implementation of the
coordination regulations in 31 countries
 Either a European Report (covering application of the
Regulations as a whole), or
 a Thematic Report, focusing on a specific topic of
coordination
In 2012: Thematic Report (available December) on
the coordination of benefits with activation measures
Based on contributions of national experts

16. Legal analysis
“Think Tank Study”: Legal research with a long-term
perspective dealing with strategic questions
Conducted by a Think Tank, composed each year
from a pool of analytical experts
In 2012: the coordination of unemployment benefits
(available December)

17. Legal analysis
“Analytical study”: legal research based on fact-
finding with relation to ad hoc analytical needs
Conducted by an analytical study group, composed
each year from a pool of analytical experts
In 2012: impact assessment report on the
coordination of long-term care benefits

18. Contact trESS
www.tress-network.org
tress@ugent.be