social security - FOD Sociale Zekerheid

B – 1 Multilateral agreementsMultilateral agreements are usually concluded within an international organisation :- the European Union (EU) and the European Economic Area (EEA) (cf. C);- the International Labour Organisation (ILO – European Convention concerning socialsecurity for workers in international transport)– or the Council of Europe (European Convention on Social Security).B- 2 Bilateral agreementsBelgium has concluded bilateral agreements with the following countries : Algeria, Australia,Canada (as well as a separate agreement with Québec), Chile, Congo (DRC), South Korea, Croatia,the United States of America, India, Israel, Japan, Yugoslavia (this convention still applies to theformer Yugoslav Republics of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro and Serbia), the formerYugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Morocco, the Philippines, San Marino, Tunisia, Turkey andUruguay.B – 3 Which are the objectives of the international agreements on social security ?The international agreements on social security govern the application of the national socialsecurity legislations when you move from one country to another.The international agreements on social security concluded by Belgium generally have the samegoals :- pursue equality of treatment: the persons subject to the legislation of the contractingcountries shall have the same rights and obligations whenever in the same situation(entitlement to the same benefits, same obligation of co-financing the social securitywith contributions or taxes, …) ;- determine the applicable social security legislation: to avoid that a person is subjectto several social security legislations or is not subject to any legislation, the agreementslay down rules to determine which legislation will be applied ;- maintain acquired rights or almost acquired rights: insurance periods achieved in thecontracting countries are added together in order to open entitlement to benefits or tocalculate the amount of these benefits (ex. : old-age pensions) ;- ensure exportability of social security benefits: he conditions of residence for grantingthe benefits are abolished (ex. : invalidity pensions).B – 4 Limits to the application of international social security agreementsThe international social security agreements determine three limits of application :- the territorial scope of application (where it is applicable) : the agreement defines theterritories to which it applies;- the material scope of application (to what it applies) : the agreement lists the socialsecurity sectors concerned;- the personal scope of application (to whom it applies): the agreement specifies thepersons to whom it applies ; nationals, family members, survivors, stateless, refugees, …67