Regulation (EC) No 987/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 September 2009 laying down the procedure for implementing Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 on the coordination of social security systems (Text with relevance for the EEA and for Switzerland)

In order to receive benefits under type A legislation under Article 44(2) of the basic Regulation, the claimant shall submit a claim to the institution of the Member State, whose legislation was applicable at the time when the incapacity for work occurred followed by invalidity or the aggravation of such invalidity, or to the institution of the place of residence, which shall forward the claim to the first institution.

If sickness benefits in cash have been awarded, the expiry date of the period for awarding these benefits shall, where appropriate, be considered as the date of submission of the pension claim.

In the case referred to in Article 47(1) of the basic Regulation, the institution with which the person concerned was last insured shall inform the institution which initially paid the benefits of the amount and the date of commencement of the benefits under the applicable legislation. From that date benefits due before aggravation of the invalidity shall be withdrawn or reduced to the supplement referred to in Article 47(2) of the basic Regulation.

In situations other than those referred to in paragraph 1, the claimant shall submit a claim to the institution of his place of residence or to the institution of the last Member State whose legislation was applicable. If the person concerned was not, at any time, subject to the legislation applied by the institution of the place of residence, that institution shall forward the claim to the institution of the last Member State whose legislation was applicable.

The date of submission of the claim shall apply in all the institutions concerned.

By way of derogation from paragraph 5, if the claimant does not, despite having been asked to do so, notify the fact that he has been employed or has resided in other Member States, the date on which the claimant completes his initial claim or submits a new claim for his missing periods of employment or/and residence in a Member State shall be considered as the date of submission of the claim to the institution applying the legislation in question, subject to more favourable provisions of that legislation.

The claim shall be submitted by the claimant in accordance with the provisions of the legislation applied by the institution referred to in Article 45(1) or (4) of the implementing Regulation and be accompanied by the supporting documents required by that legislation. In particular, the claimant shall supply all available relevant information and supporting documents relating to periods of insurance (institutions, identification numbers), employment (employers) or self-employment (nature and place of activity) and residence (addresses) which may have been completed under other legislation, as well as the length of those periods.

Where, in accordance with Article 50(1) of the basic Regulation, the claimant requests deferment of the award of old-age benefits under the legislation of one or more Member States, he shall state that in his claim and specify under which legislation the deferment is requested. In order to enable the claimant to exercise that right, the institutions concerned shall, upon the request of the claimant, notify him of all the information available to them so that he can assess the consequences of concurrent or successive awards of benefits which he might claim.

Should the claimant withdraw a claim for benefits provided for under the legislation of a particular Member State, that withdrawal shall not be considered as a concurrent withdrawal of claims for benefits under the legislation of other Member States.

The institution to which the claim for benefits is submitted or forwarded in accordance with Article 45(1) or (4) of the implementing Regulation shall be referred to hereinafter as the ‘contact institution’. The institution of the place of residence shall not be referred to as the contact institution if the person concerned has not, at any time, been subject to the legislation which that institution applies.

In the case referred to in Article 44(3) of the basic Regulation, the contact institution shall send all the documents relating to the person concerned to the institution with which he was previously insured, which shall in turn examine the case.

Articles 48 to 52 of the implementing Regulation shall not be applicable to the investigation of claims referred to in Article 44 of the basic Regulation.

In situations other than those referred to in paragraph 2, the contact institution shall, without delay, send claims for benefits and all the documents which it has available and, where appropriate, the relevant documents supplied by the claimant to all the institutions in question so that they can all start the investigation of the claim concurrently. The contact institution shall notify the other institutions of periods of insurance or residence subject to its legislation. It shall also indicate which documents shall be submitted at a later date and supplement the claim as soon as possible.

Each of the institutions in question shall notify the contact institution and the other institutions in question, as soon as possible, of the periods of insurance or residence subject to their legislation.

Each of the institutions in question shall calculate the amount of benefits in accordance with Article 52 of the basic Regulation and shall notify the contact institution and the other institutions concerned of its decision, of the amount of benefits due and of any information required for the purposes of Articles 53 to 55 of the basic Regulation.

Should an institution establish, on the basis of the information referred to in paragraphs 4 and 5 of this Article, that Article 46(2) or Article 57(2) or (3) of the basic Regulation is applicable, it shall inform the contact institution and the other institutions concerned.

Each institution shall notify the claimant of the decision it has taken in accordance with the applicable legislation. Each decision shall specify the remedies and periods allowed for appeals. Once the contact institution has been notified of all decisions taken by each institution, it shall send the claimant and the other institutions concerned a summary of those decisions. A model summary shall be drawn up by the Administrative Commission. The summary shall be sent to the claimant in the language of the institution or, at the request of the claimant, in any language of his choice recognised as an official language of the Community institutions in accordance with Article 290 of the Treaty.

Where it appears to the claimant following receipt of the summary that his rights may have been adversely affected by the interaction of decisions taken by two or more institutions, the claimant shall have the right to a review of the decisions by the institutions concerned within the time limits laid down in the respective national legislation. The time limits shall commence on the date of receipt of the summary. The claimant shall be notified of the result of the review in writing.

Where Article 46(3) of the basic Regulation is applicable, the only institution authorised to take a decision concerning the claimant’s degree of invalidity shall be the contact institution, if the legislation applied by that institution is included in Annex VII to the basic Regulation, or failing that, the institution whose legislation is included in that Annex and to whose legislation the claimant was last subject. It shall take that decision as soon as it can determine whether the conditions for eligibility laid down in the applicable legislation are met, taking into account, where appropriate, Articles 6 and 51 of the basic Regulation. It shall without delay notify the other institutions concerned of that decision.

Where Article 46(3) of the basic Regulation is not applicable, each institution shall, in accordance with its legislation, have the possibility of having the claimant examined by a medical doctor or other expert of its choice to determine the degree of invalidity. However, the institution of a Member State shall take into consideration documents, medical reports and administrative information collected by the institution of any other Member State as if they had been drawn up in its own Member State.

Notwithstanding Article 7 of the implementing Regulation, any institution which establishes, while investigating a claim for benefits, that the claimant is entitled to an independent benefit under the applicable legislation, in accordance with Article 52(1)(a) of the basic Regulation, shall pay that benefit without delay. That payment shall be considered provisional if the amount might be affected by the result of the claim investigation procedure.

Whenever it is evident from the information available that the claimant is entitled to a payment from an institution under Article 52(1)(b) of the basic Regulation, that institution shall make an advance payment, the amount of which shall be as close as possible to the amount which will probably be paid under Article 52(1)(b) of the basic Regulation.

Each institution which is obliged to pay the provisional benefits or advance payment under paragraphs 1 or 2 shall inform the claimant without delay, specifically drawing his attention to the provisional nature of the measure and any rights of appeal in accordance with its legislation.

Where there is a new calculation of benefits in accordance with Articles 48(3) and (4), 50(4) and 59(1) of the basic Regulation, Article 50 of the implementing Regulation shall be applicable mutatis mutandis.

Where there is a new calculation, withdrawal or suspension of the benefit, the institution which took the decision shall inform the person concerned without delay and shall inform each of the institutions in respect of which the person concerned has an entitlement.

In order to facilitate and accelerate the investigation of claims and the payment of benefits, the institutions to whose legislation a person has been subject shall:

For the purposes of applying paragraph 1, the Administrative Commission shall determine the elements of information to be exchanged or made available and shall establish the appropriate procedures and mechanisms, taking account of the characteristics, administrative and technical organisation, and the technological means at the disposal of national pension schemes. The Administrative Commission shall ensure the implementation of those pension schemes by organising a follow-up to the measures taken and their application.

For the purposes of applying paragraph 1, the institution in the first Member State where a person is allocated a Personal Identification Number (PIN) for the purposes of social security administration should be provided with the information referred to in this Article.

Without prejudice to Article 51 of the basic Regulation, where national legislation includes rules for determining the institution responsible or the scheme applicable or for designating periods of insurance to a specific scheme, those rules shall be applied, taking into account only periods of insurance completed under the legislation of the Member State concerned.

Where national legislation includes rules for the coordination of special schemes for civil servants and the general scheme for employed persons, those rules shall not be affected by the provisions of the basic Regulation and of the implementing Regulation.

Article 12(1) of the implementing Regulation shall apply mutatis mutandis to Article 61 of the basic Regulation. Without prejudice to the underlying obligations of the institutions involved, the person concerned may submit to the competent institution a document issued by the institution of the Member State to whose legislation he was subject in respect of his last activity as an employed or self-employed person specifying the periods completed under that legislation.

For the purposes of applying Article 62(3) of the basic Regulation, the competent institution of the Member State to whose legislation the person concerned was subject in respect of his/her last activity as an employed or self-employed person shall, without delay, at the request of the institution of the place of residence, provide it with all the information necessary to calculate unemployment benefits which can be obtained in the Member State where it is situated, in particular the salary or professional income received.

For the purposes of applying Article 62 of the basic Regulation and notwithstanding Article 63 thereof, the competent institution of a Member State whose legislation provides that the calculation of benefits varies with the number of members of the family shall also take into account the members of the family of the person concerned residing in another Member State as if they resided in the competent Member State. This provision shall not apply where, in the Member State of residence of members of the family, another person is entitled to unemployment benefits calculated on the basis of the number of members of the family.

In order to be covered by Article 64 or Article 65a of the basic Regulation, the unemployed person going to another Member State shall inform the competent institution prior to his/her departure and request a document certifying that he/she retains his/her entitlement to benefits under the conditions laid down in Article 64(1)(b) of the basic Regulation.

The unemployed person shall register as a person seeking work with the employment services of the Member State to which he goes in accordance with Article 64(1)(b) of the basic Regulation and shall provide the document referred to in paragraph 1 to the institution of that Member State. If he has informed the competent institution in accordance with paragraph 1 but fails to provide this document, the institution in the Member State to which the unemployed person has gone shall contact the competent institution in order to obtain the necessary information.

The employment services in the Member State to which the unemployed person has gone to seek employment shall inform the unemployed person of his obligations.

The institution in the Member State to which the unemployed person has gone shall immediately send a document to the competent institution containing the date on which the unemployed person registered with the employment services and his new address.

The institution in the Member State to which the unemployed person has gone shall carry out or arrange for checks to be carried out, as if the person concerned were an unemployed person obtaining benefits under its own legislation. Where necessary, it shall immediately inform the competent institution if any circumstances referred to in paragraph 1(d) arise.

The competent authorities or competent institutions of two or more Member States may agree amongst themselves specific procedures and time-limits concerning the follow-up of the unemployed person’s situation as well as other measures to facilitate the job-seeking activities of unemployed persons who go to one of those Member States under Article 64 of the basic Regulation.

Paragraphs 2 to 6 shall apply mutatis mutandis to the situation covered by Article 65a(3) of the basic Regulation.

Where the unemployed person decides, in accordance with Article 65(2) or Article 65a(1) of the basic Regulation, to make himself/herself also available to the employment services in the Member State not providing the benefits, by registering there as a person seeking work, he/she shall inform the institution and the employment services of the Member State providing the benefits.

Where the legislation applicable in the Member States concerned requires the fulfilment of certain obligations and/or job-seeking activities by the unemployed person, the obligations and/or job-seeking activities by the unemployed person in the Member State providing the benefits shall have priority.

For the purposes of applying Article 65(5)(b) of the basic Regulation, the institution of the Member State to whose legislation the worker was last subject shall inform the institution of the place of residence, when requested to do so by the latter, whether the worker is entitled to benefits under Article 64 of the basic Regulation.

Articles 54 and 55 of the implementing Regulation shall apply mutatis mutandis to persons covered by a special unemployment scheme for civil servants.

Article 56 of the implementing Regulation shall not apply to persons covered by a special unemployment scheme for civil servants. An unemployed person who is covered by a special unemployment scheme for civil servants, who is partially or wholly unemployed, and who, during his last employment, was residing in the territory of a Member State other than the competent State, shall receive the benefits under the special unemployment scheme for civil servants in accordance with the provisions of the legislation of the competent Member State as if he were residing in the territory of that Member State. Those benefits shall be provided by the competent institution, at its expense.

Where the applicable legislation and/or the competence to grant family benefits change between Member States during a calendar month, irrespective of the payment dates of family benefits under the legislation of those Member States, the institution which has paid the family benefits by virtue of the legislation under which the benefits have been granted at the beginning of that month shall continue to do so until the end of the month in progress.

It shall inform the institution of the other Member State or Member States concerned of the date on which it ceases to pay the family benefits in question. Payment of benefits from the other Member State or Member States concerned shall take effect from that date.

The application for family benefits shall be addressed to the competent institution. For the purposes of applying Articles 67 and 68 of the basic Regulation, the situation of the whole family shall be taken into account as if all the persons involved were subject to the legislation of the Member State concerned and residing there, in particular as regards a person’s entitlement to claim such benefits. Where a person entitled to claim the benefits does not exercise his right, an application for family benefits submitted by the other parent, a person treated as a parent, or a person or institution acting as guardian of the child or children, shall be taken into account by the competent institution of the Member State whose legislation is applicable.

The institution to which an application is made in accordance with paragraph 1 shall examine the application on the basis of the detailed information supplied by the applicant, taking into account the overall factual and legal situation of the applicant’s family.

Where the institution to which the application is made concludes that its legislation is applicable, but not by priority right in accordance with Article 68(1) and (2) of the basic Regulation, it shall take a provisional decision, without delay, on the priority rules to be applied and shall forward the application, in accordance with Article 68(3) of the basic Regulation, to the institution of the other Member State, and shall also inform the applicant thereof. That institution shall take a position on the provisional decision within two months.

Where there is a difference of views between the institutions concerned about which legislation is applicable by priority right, Article 6(2) to (5) of the implementing Regulation shall apply. For this purpose the institution of the place of residence referred to in Article 6(2) of the implementing Regulation shall be the institution of the child’s or childrens’ place of residence.

If the institution which has supplied benefits on a provisional basis has paid more than the amount for which it is ultimately responsible, it may claim reimbursement of the excess from the institution with primary responsibility in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 73 of the implementing Regulation.

For the purposes of applying Article 35 and Article 41 of the basic Regulation, the actual amount of the expenses for benefits in kind, as shown in the accounts of the institution that provided them, shall be reimbursed to that institution by the competent institution, except where Article 63 of the implementing Regulation is applicable.

If any or part of the actual amount of the expenses for benefits referred to in paragraph 1 is not shown in the accounts of the institution that provided them, the amount to be refunded shall be determined on the basis of a lump-sum payment calculated from all the appropriate references obtained from the data available. The Administrative Commission shall assess the bases to be used for calculation of the lump-sum payment and shall decide the amount thereof.

Higher rates than those applicable to the benefits in kind provided to insured persons subject to the legislation applied by the institution providing the benefits referred to in paragraph 1 may not be taken into account in the reimbursement.

The Member States referred to in Article 35(2) of the basic Regulation, whose legal or administrative structures are such that the use of reimbursement on the basis of actual expenditure is not appropriate, are listed in Annex 3 to the implementing Regulation.

In the case of the Member States listed in Annex 3 to the implementing Regulation, the amount of benefits in kind supplied to:

For each creditor Member State, the monthly fixed amount per person (Fi) for a calendar year shall be determined by dividing the annual average cost per person (Yi), broken down by age group (i), by 12 and by applying a reduction (X) to the result in accordance with the following formula:

The annual average cost per person (Yi) in age group i shall be obtained by dividing the annual expenditure on all benefits in kind provided by the institutions of the creditor Member State to all persons in the age group concerned subject to its legislation and residing within its territory by the average number of persons concerned in that age group in the calendar year in question. The calculation shall be based on the expenditure under the schemes referred to in Article 23 of the implementing Regulation.

The reduction to be applied to the monthly fixed amount shall, in principle, be equal to 20 % (X = 0,20). It shall be equal to 15 % (X = 0,15) for pensioners and members of their family where the competent Member State is not listed in Annex IV to the basic Regulation.

For each debtor Member State, the total fixed amount for a calendar year shall be the sum of the products obtained by multiplying, in each age group i, the determined monthly fixed amounts per person by the number of months completed by the persons concerned in the creditor Member State in that age group.

No later than 1 May 2015, the Administrative Commission shall present a specific report on the application of this Article and in particular on the reductions referred to in paragraph 3. On the basis of that report, the Administrative Commission may present a proposal containing any amendments which may prove necessary in order to ensure that the calculation of fixed amounts comes as close as possible to the actual expenditure incurred and the reductions referred to in paragraph 3 do not result in unbalanced payments or double payments for the Member States.

The Administrative Commission shall establish the methods for determining the elements for calculating the fixed amounts referred to in paragraphs 1 to 5.

Notwithstanding paragraphs 1 to 4, Member States may continue to apply Articles 94 and 95 of Regulation (EEC) No 574/72 for the calculation of the fixed amount until 1 May 2015, provided that the reduction set out in paragraph 3 is applied.

The annual average cost per person in each age group for a specific year shall be notified to the Audit Board at the latest by the end of the second year following the year in question. If the notification is not made by this deadline, the annual average cost per person which the Administrative Commission has last determined for a previous year will be taken.

The annual average costs determined in accordance with paragraph 1 shall be published each year in the Official Journal of the European Union.

The reimbursements between the Member States concerned shall be made as promptly as possible. Every institution concerned shall be obliged to reimburse claims before the deadlines mentioned in this Section, as soon as it is in a position to do so. A dispute concerning a particular claim shall not hinder the reimbursement of another claim or other claims.

The reimbursements between the institutions of the Member States, provided for in Articles 35 and 41 of the basic Regulation, shall be made via the liaison body. There may be a separate liaison body for reimbursements under Article 35 and Article 41 of the basic Regulation.

Claims based on actual expenditure shall be introduced to the liaison body of the debtor Member State within 12 months of the end of the calendar half-year during which those claims were recorded in the accounts of the creditor institution.

Claims of fixed amounts for a calendar year shall be introduced to the liaison body of the debtor Member State within the 12-month period following the month during which the average costs for the year concerned were published in the Official Journal of the European Union. The inventories referred to Article 64(4) of the implementing Regulation shall be presented by the end of the year following the reference year.

In the case referred to in Article 6(5) second subparagraph of the implementing Regulation, the deadline set out in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article shall not start before the competent institution has been identified.

Claims introduced after the deadlines specified in paragraphs 1 and 2 shall not be considered.

The claims shall be paid to the liaison body of the creditor Member State referred to in Article 66 of the implementing Regulation by the debtor institution within 18 months of the end of the month during which they were introduced to the liaison body of the debtor Member State. This does not apply to the claims which the debtor institution has rejected for a relevant reason within that period.

Any disputes concerning a claim shall be settled, at the latest, within 36 months following the month in which the claim was introduced.

The Audit Board shall facilitate the final closing of accounts in cases where a settlement cannot be reached within the period set out in paragraph 6, and, upon a reasoned request by one of the parties, shall give its opinion on a dispute within six months following the month in which the matter was referred to it.

From the end of the 18-month period set out in Article 67(5) of the implementing Regulation, interest can be charged by the creditor institution on outstanding claims, unless the debtor institution has made, within six months of the end of the month during which the claim was introduced, a down payment of at least 90 % of the total claim introduced pursuant to Article 67(1) or (2) of the implementing Regulation. For those parts of the claim not covered by the down payment, interest may be charged only from the end of the 36-month period set out in Article 67(6) of the implementing Regulation.

The interest shall be calculated on the basis of the reference rate applied by the European Central Bank to its main refinancing operations. The reference rate applicable shall be that in force on the first day of the month on which the payment is due.

No liaison body shall be obliged to accept a down payment as provided for in paragraph 1. If however, a liaison body declines such an offer, the creditor institution shall no longer be entitled to charge interest on late payments related to the claims in question other than under the second sentence of paragraph 1.

The Administrative Commission shall establish the claims situation for each calendar year in accordance with Article 72(g) of the basic Regulation, on the basis of the Audit Board’s report. To this end, the liaison bodies shall notify the Audit Board, by the deadlines and according to the procedures laid down by the latter, of the amount of the claims introduced, settled or contested (creditor position) and the amount of claims received, settled or contested (debtor position).

The Administrative Commission may perform any appropriate checks on the statistical and accounting data used as the basis for drawing up the annual statement of claims provided for in paragraph 1 in order, in particular, to ensure that they comply with the rules laid down under this Title.

If the institution of a Member State has paid undue benefits to a person, that institution may, within the terms and limits laid down in the legislation it applies, request the institution of any other Member State responsible for paying benefits to the person concerned to deduct the undue amount from arrears or on-going payments owed to the person concerned regardless of the social security branch under which the benefit is paid. The institution of the latter Member State shall deduct the amount concerned subject to the conditions and limits applying to this kind of offsetting procedure in accordance with the legislation it applies in the same way as if it had made the overpayments itself, and shall transfer the amount deducted to the institution that has paid undue benefits.

By way of derogation from paragraph 1, if, when awarding or reviewing benefits in respect of invalidity benefits, old-age and survivors’ pensions pursuant to Chapter 4 and 5 of Title III of the basic Regulation, the institution of a Member State has paid to a person benefits of undue sum, that institution may request the institution of any other Member State responsible for the payment of corresponding benefits to the person concerned to deduct the amount overpaid from the arrears payable to the person concerned. After the latter institution has informed the institution that has paid an undue sum of these arrears, the institution which has paid the undue sum shall within two months communicate the amount of the undue sum. If the institution which is due to pay arrears receives that communication within the deadline it shall transfer the amount deducted to the institution which has paid undue sums. If the deadline expires, that institution shall without delay pay out the arrears to the person concerned.

If a person has received social welfare assistance in one Member State during a period in which he was entitled to benefits under the legislation of another Member State, the body which provided the assistance may, if it is legally entitled to reclaim the benefits due to the person concerned, request the institution of any other Member State responsible for paying benefits in favour of the person concerned to deduct the amount of assistance paid from the amounts which that Member State pays to the person concerned.

For the purposes of applying Article 6 of the implementing Regulation, at the latest three months after the applicable legislation has been determined or the institution responsible for paying the benefits has been identified, the institution which provisionally paid the cash benefits shall draw up a statement of the amount provisionally paid and shall send it to the institution identified as being competent.

The institution which has provisionally received contributions from a legal and/or natural person shall not reimburse the amounts in question to the person who paid them until it has ascertained from the institution identified as being competent the sums due to it under Article 6(4) of the implementing Regulation.

For the purposes of this Section:

Requests and any related communications between the Member States shall, in general, be addressed via designated institutions.

Practical implementation measures, including, among others, those related to Article 4 of the implementing Regulation and to setting a minimum threshold for the amounts for which a request for recovery can be made, shall be taken by the Administrative Commission.

At the request of the applicant party, the requested party shall provide any information which would be useful to the applicant party in the recovery of its claim.

The request for information shall indicate the name, last known address, and any other relevant information relating to the identification of the legal or natural person concerned to whom the information to be provided relates and the nature and amount of the claim in respect of which the request is made.

The requested party shall not be obliged to supply information:

The requested party shall inform the applicant party of the grounds for refusing a request for information.

The requested party shall, at the request of the applicant party, and in accordance with the rules in force for the notification of similar instruments or decisions in its own Member State, notify the addressee of all instruments and decisions, including those of a judicial nature, which come from the Member State of the applicant party and which relate to a claim and/or to its recovery.

The request for notification shall indicate the name, address and any other relevant information relating to the identification of the addressee concerned to which the applicant party normally has access, the nature and the subject of the instrument or decision to be notified and, if necessary the name, address and any other relevant information relating to the identification of the debtor and the claim to which the instrument or decision relates, and any other useful information.

The requested party shall without delay inform the applicant party of the action taken on its request for notification and, particularly, of the date on which the decision or instrument was forwarded to the addressee.

The request for recovery of a claim, addressed by the applicant party to the requested party, shall be accompanied by an official or certified copy of the instrument permitting its enforcement, issued in the Member State of the applicant party and, if appropriate, by the original or a certified copy of other documents necessary for recovery.

The applicant party may only make a request for recovery if:

The request for recovery shall indicate:

The request for recovery shall also contain a declaration by the applicant party confirming that the conditions laid down in paragraph 2 have been fulfilled.

The applicant party shall forward to the requesting party any relevant information relating to the matter which gave rise to the request for recovery, as soon as this comes to its knowledge.

In accordance with Article 84(2) of the basic Regulation, the instrument permitting enforcement of the claim shall be directly recognised and treated automatically as an instrument permitting the enforcement of a claim of the Member State of the requested party.

Notwithstanding paragraph 1, the instrument permitting enforcement of the claim may, where appropriate and in accordance with the provisions in force in the Member State of the requested party, be accepted as, recognised as, supplemented with, or replaced by an instrument authorising enforcement in the territory of that Member State.

Claims shall be recovered in the currency of the Member State of the requested party. The entire amount of the claim that is recovered by the requested party shall be remitted by the requested party to the applicant party.

The requested party may, where the laws, regulations or administrative provisions in force in its own Member State so permit, and after consulting the applicant party, allow the debtor time to pay or authorise payment by instalment. Any interest charged by the requested party in respect of such extra time to pay shall also be remitted to the applicant party.

If, in the course of the recovery procedure, the claim and/or the instrument permitting its enforcement issued in the Member State of the applicant party are contested by an interested party, the action shall be brought by this party before the appropriate authorities of the Member State of the applicant party, in accordance with the laws in force in that Member State. The applicant party shall without delay notify the requested party of this action. The interested party may also inform the requested party of the action.

As soon as the requested party has received the notification or information referred to in paragraph 1 either from the applicant party or from the interested party, it shall suspend the enforcement procedure pending the decision of the appropriate authority in the matter, unless the applicant party requests otherwise in accordance with the second subparagraph of this paragraph. Should the requested party deem it necessary, and without prejudice to Article 84 of the implementing Regulation, it may take precautionary measures to guarantee recovery insofar as the laws or regulations in force in its own Member State allow such action for similar claims.

Where the contestation concerns enforcement measures taken in the Member State of the requested party, the action shall be brought before the appropriate authority of that Member State in accordance with its laws and regulations.

Where the appropriate authority before which the action is brought in accordance with paragraph 1 is a judicial or administrative tribunal, the decision of that tribunal, insofar as it is favourable to the applicant party and permits recovery of the claim in the Member State of the applicant party, shall constitute the ‘instrument permitting enforcement’ within the meaning of Articles 78 and 79 of the implementing Regulation and the recovery of the claim shall proceed on the basis of that decision.

The requested party shall not be obliged:

The requested party shall inform the applicant party of the grounds for refusing a request for assistance.

Questions concerning periods of limitation shall be governed as follows:

Steps taken in the recovery of claims by the requested party in pursuance of a request for assistance, which, if they had been carried out by the applicant party, would have had the effect of suspending or interrupting the period of limitation according to the laws in force in the Member State of the applicant party, shall be deemed to have been taken in the latter State, in so far as that effect is concerned.

The requested party shall recover from the natural or legal person concerned and retain any costs linked to recovery which it incurs, in accordance with the laws and regulations of the Member State of the requested party that apply to similar claims.

Mutual assistance afforded under this Section shall, as a rule, be free of charge. However, where recovery poses a specific problem or concerns a very large amount in costs, the applicant and the requested parties may agree on reimbursement arrangements specific to the cases in question.

The Member State of the applicant party shall remain liable to the Member State of the requested party for any costs and any losses incurred as a result of actions held to be unfounded, as far as either the substance of the claim or the validity of the instrument issued by the applicant party is concerned.

No later than the fourth full calendar year after the entry into force of the implementing Regulation, the Administrative Commission shall present a comparative report on the time limits set out in Article 67(2), (5) and (6) of the implementing Regulation.

No later than the date referred to in paragraph 1, the Administrative Commission shall also assess the rules for conversion of periods set out in Article 13 with a view to simplifying those rules, if possible.

No later than 1 May 2015, the Administrative Commission shall present a report specifically assessing the application of Chapters I and III of Title IV of the implementing Regulation, in particular with regard to the procedures and time limits referred to in Article 67(2), (5) and (6) of the implementing Regulation and to the recovery procedures referred to in Articles 75 to 85 of the implementing Regulation.

Without prejudice to other provisions, where a recipient or a claimant of benefits, or a member of his family, is staying or residing within the territory of a Member State other than that in which the debtor institution is located, the medical examination shall be carried out, at the request of that institution, by the institution of the beneficiary’s place of stay or residence in accordance with the procedures laid down by the legislation applied by that institution.

The institution of the place of stay or residence shall forward a report to the debtor institution that requested the medical examination. This institution shall be bound by the findings of the institution of the place of stay or residence.

Where a recipient or a claimant of benefits, or a member of his family, is staying or residing in the territory of a Member State other than that in which the debtor institution is located, the administrative check shall, at the request of the debtor institution, be performed by the institution of the beneficiary’s place of stay or residence.

Paragraphs 2 and 3 shall also apply in determining or checking the state of dependence of a recipient or a claimant of the long-term care benefits mentioned in Article 34 of the basic Regulation.

The competent authorities or competent institutions of two or more Member States may agree specific provisions and procedures to improve fully or partly the labour-market readiness of claimants and recipients and their participation in any schemes or programmes available in the Member State of stay or residence for that purpose.

As an exception to the principle of free-of-charge mutual administrative cooperation in Article 76(2) of the basic Regulation, the effective amount of the expenses of the checks referred to in paragraphs 1 to 5 shall be refunded to the institution which was requested to carry them out by the debtor institution which requested them.

The Member States shall notify the European Commission of the details of the bodies defined in Article 1(m), (q) and (r) of the basic Regulation and Article 1(2)(a) and (b) of the implementing Regulation, and of the institutions designated in accordance with the implementing Regulation.

The bodies specified in paragraph 1 shall be provided with an electronic identity in the form of an identification code and electronic address.

The Administrative Commission shall establish the structure, content and detailed arrangements, including the common format and model, for notification of the details specified in paragraph 1.

Annex 4 to the implementing Regulation gives details of the public database containing the information specified in paragraph 1. The database shall be established and managed by the European Commission. The Member States shall, however, be responsible for the input of their own national contact information into this database. Moreover, the Member States shall ensure the accuracy of the input of the national contact information required under paragraph 1.

The Member States shall be responsible for keeping the information specified in paragraph 1 up to date.

The Administrative Commission shall prepare the information needed to ensure that the parties concerned are aware of their rights and the administrative formalities required in order to assert them. This information shall, where possible, be disseminated electronically via publication online on sites accessible to the public. The Administrative Commission shall ensure that the information is regularly updated and monitor the quality of services provided to customers.

The Advisory Committee referred to in Article 75 of the basic Regulation may issue opinions and recommendations on improving the information and its dissemination.

The competent authorities shall ensure that their institutions are aware of and apply all the Community provisions, legislative or otherwise, including the decisions of the Administrative Commission, in the areas covered by and within the terms of the basic Regulation and the implementing Regulation.