The governments signatory hereto, being members of the Council of Europe,
Considering that the aim of the Council of Europe is to achieve greater unity between its
members for the purpose, among others, of facilitating their social progress;
Affirming the principle that the nationals of any one of the Contracting Parties to this
Agreement should receive under the laws and regulations of any other Contracting Party
relating to benefits payable in respect of old age, invalidity or survivors, equal
treatment with the nationals of the latter, a principle sanctioned by Conventions of the
International Labour Organisation;
Affirming also the principle that the nationals of any one of the Contracting Parties
should receive the benefits of agreements relating to old age, invalidity and survivors
concluded by any two or more of the other Contracting Parties;
Desirous of giving effect to these principles by means of an Interim Agreement pending the
conclusion of a general convention based on a network of bilateral agreements,
Have agreed as follows:
Article 1
- This Agreement shall apply to all social security laws and regulations which are in
force at the date of signature or may subsequently come into force in any part of the
territory of the Contracting Parties and which relate to:
- benefits in respect of old age;
- benefits in respect of invalidity, other than those awarded under an employment injury
scheme;
- benefits payable to survivors, other than death grants or benefits awarded under an
employment injury scheme.
- This Agreement shall apply to schemes of contributory and non-contributory benefits. It
shall not apply to public assistance, special schemes for civil servants or benefits paid
in respect of war injuries or injuries due to foreign occupation.
- For the purpose of this Agreement the word "benefit" shall include any
increase in or supplement to the benefit.
- The terms "nationals" and "territory" of a Contracting Party shall
have the meaning assigned to them by such a Party in a declaration addressed to the
Secretary General of the Council of Europe for communication to all other Contracting
Parties.
Article 2
- Subject to the provisions of Article 9, a national of any one of the Contracting Parties
shall be entitled to receive the benefits of the laws and regulations of any other of the
Contracting Parties under the same conditions as if he were a national of the latter,
provided that:
- in the case of invalidity benefit under either a contributory or non-contributory scheme
he had become ordinarily resident in the territory of the latter Contracting Party before
the first medical certification of the sickness responsible for such invalidity;
- in the case of benefit payable under a non-contributory scheme, he has been resident in
that territory for a period in the aggregate of not less than fifteen years after the age
of twenty, has been ordinarily resident without interruption in that territory for at
least five years immediately preceding the claim for benefit and continues to be
ordinarily resident in that territory;
- in the case of benefit payable under a contributory scheme, he is resident in the
territory of any one of the Contracting Parties.
- In any case where the laws and regulations of any one of the Contracting Parties impose
a restriction on the rights of a national of that Party who was not born in its territory,
a national of any other of the Contracting Parties born in the territory of the latter
shall be treated as if he were a national of the former Contracting Party born in its
territory.
Article 3
- Any agreement relating to the laws and regulations referred to in Article 1 which has
been or may be concluded by any two or more of the Contracting Parties shall, subject to
the provisions of Article 9, apply to a national of any other of the Contracting Parties
as if he were a national of one of the former Parties insofar as it provides, in relation
to those laws and regulations:
- for determining under which laws and regulations a person should be insured;
- for maintaining acquired rights and rights in course of acquisition and, in particular,
for adding together insurance periods and equivalent periods for the purpose of
establishing the right to receive benefit and calculating the amount of benefit due;
- for paying benefit to persons residing in the territory of any one of the Parties to
such agreement;
- for supplementing and administering the provisions of such agreement referred to in this
paragraph.
- The provisions of paragraph 1 of this article shall not apply to any provision of the
said agreement which concerns benefits provided under a non-contributory scheme, unless
the national concerned has been resident in the territory of the Contracting Party under
whose laws and regulations he claims benefit for a period in the aggregate of not less
than fifteen years after the age of twenty and has been ordinarily resident without
interruption in that territory for a period of at least five years immediately preceding
the claim for benefit.
Article 4
Subject to the provisions of any relevant bilateral and multilateral agreements,
benefits which in the absence of this Agreement have not been awarded, or have been
suspended, shall be awarded or reinstated from the date of the entry into force of this
Agreement for all the Contracting Parties concerned with the claim in question, provided
that the claim thereto is presented within one year after such date or within such longer
period as may be determined by the Contracting Party under whose laws and regulations the
benefit is claimed. If the claim is not presented within such period, the benefit shall be
awarded or reinstated from the date of the claim or such earlier date as may be determined
by the latter Contracting Party.
Article 5
The provisions of this Agreement shall not limit the provisions of any national laws or
regulations, international conventions, or bilateral or multilateral agreements which are
more favourable for the beneficiary.
Article 6
This Agreement shall not affect those provisions of national laws or regulations which
relate to the participation of insured persons, and of other categories of persons
concerned, in the management of social security.
Article 7
- Annex I to this Agreement sets out in relation to each
Contracting Party the social security schemes to which Article 1 applies which are in
force in any part of its territory at the date of signature of this Agreement.
- Each Contracting Party shall notify the Secretary General of the Council of Europe of
every new law or regulation of a type not included in Annex I in relation to that Party.
Such notifications shall be made by each Contracting Party within three months of the date
of publication of the new law or regulation, or if such law or regulation is published
before the date of ratification of this Agreement by the Contracting Party concerned, at
that date of ratification.
Article 8
- Annex II to this Agreement sets out in relation to each
Contracting Party the agreements concluded by it to which Article 3 applies which are in
force at the date of signature of this Agreement.
- Each Contracting Party shall notify the Secretary General of the Council of Europe of
every new agreement concluded by it to which Article 3 applies. Such notification shall be
made by each Contracting Party within three months of the date of coming into force of the
agreement, or if such new agreement has come into force before the date of ratification of
this Agreement, at that date of ratification.
Article 9
- Annex III to this Agreement sets out the reservations hereto
made at the date of signature.
- Any Contracting Party may, at the time of making a notification in accordance with
Article 7 or Article 8, make a reservation in respect of the application of the present
Agreement to any law, regulation or agreement which is referred to in such notification. A
statement of any such reservation shall accompany the notification concerned; it will take
effect from the date of entry into force of the new law, regulation or agreement.
- Any Contracting Party may withdraw either in whole or in part any reservation made by it
by a notification to that effect addressed to the Secretary General of the Council of
Europe. Such notification shall take effect on the first day of the month following the
month in which it is received and this Agreement shall apply accordingly.
Article 10
The annexes to this Agreement shall constitute an integral part of this Agreement.
Article 11
- Arrangements, where necessary, between the competent authorities of the Contracting
Parties shall determine the methods of implementation of this Agreement.
- The competent authorities of the Contracting Parties concerned shall endeavour to
resolve by negotiation any dispute relating to the interpretation or application of this
Agreement.
- If any such dispute has not been resolved by negotiation within a period of three
months, the dispute shall be submitted to arbitration by an arbitral body whose
composition and procedure shall be agreed upon by the Contracting Parties concerned, or,
in default of such agreement, within a further period of three months, by an arbitrator
chosen at the request of any of the Contracting Parties concerned by the President of the
International Court of Justice. Should the latter be a national of one of the Parties to
the dispute, this task shall be entrusted to the Vice-President of the Court or to the
next judge in order of seniority not a national of one of the Parties to the dispute.
- The decision of the arbitral body, or arbitrator, as the case may be, shall be made in
accordance with the principles and spirit of this Agreement and shall be final and
binding.
Article 12
In the event of the denunciation of this Agreement by any of the Contracting Parties,
- any right acquired by a person in accordance with its provisions shall be maintained
and, in particular, if he has, in accordance with its provisions, acquired the right to
receive any benefit under the laws and regulations of one of the Contracting Parties while
he is resident in the territory of another, he shall continue to enjoy that right;
- subject to any conditions which may be laid down by supplementary agreements concluded
by the Contracting Parties concerned for the settlement of any rights then in course of
acquisition, the provisions of this Agreement shall continue to apply to insurance periods
and equivalent periods completed before the date when the denunciation becomes effective.
Article 13
- This Agreement shall be open to the signature of the members of the Council of Europe.
It shall be ratified. Instruments of ratification shall be deposited with the Secretary
General of the Council of Europe.
- This Agreement shall come into force on the first day of the month following the date of
deposit of the second instrument of ratification.
- As regards any signatory ratifying subsequently, the Agreement shall come into force on
the first day of the month following the date of the deposit of its instrument of
ratification.
Article 14
- The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe may invite any State not a member of
the Council of Europe to accede to this Agreement.
- Accession shall be effected by the deposit of an instrument of accession with the
Secretary General of the Council of Europe, which shall take effect on the first day of
the month following the date of deposit.
- Any instrument of accession deposited in accordance with this article shall be
accompanied by a notification of such information as would be contained in the Annexes I
and II to this Agreement if the government of the State concerned were, on the date of
accession, a signatory hereto.
- For the purposes of this Agreement any information notified in accordance with paragraph
3 of this article shall be deemed to be part of the annex in which it would have been
recorded if the government of the State concerned were a signatory hereto.
Article 15
The Secretary General of the Council of Europe shall notify:
- the members of the Council and the Director General of the International Labour Office:
- of the date of entry into force of this Agreement and the names of any members who
ratify it;
- of the deposit of any instrument of accession in accordance with Article 14 and of such
notifications as are received with it;
- of any notification received in accordance with Article 16 and its effective date;
- the Contracting Parties and the Director General of the International Labour Office:
- of any notifications received in accordance with Articles 7 and 8;
- of any reservation made in accordance with paragraph 2 of Article 9;
- of the withdrawal of any reservation in accordance with paragraph 3 of Article 9.
Article 16
This Agreement shall remain in force for a period of two years from the date of its
entry into force in accordance with paragraph 2 of Article 13. Thereafter it shall remain
in force from year to year for such Contracting Parties as have not denounced it by a
notification to that effect addressed to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe at
least six months before the expiry either of the preliminary two-year period, or of any
subsequent yearly period. Such notification shall take effect at the end of the period to
which it relates.
In witness whereof the undersigned, being duly authorised thereto, have signed this
Agreement.
Done at Paris, this 11th day of December 1953, in the English and French languages, both
texts being equally authoritative, in a single copy which shall remain in the archives of
the Council of Europe and of which the Secretary General shall send certified copies to
each of the signatories and to the Director General of the International Labour Office.
Annexes I, II and III to the European Interim Agreement on Social Security Schemes relating to Old Age,
Invalidity and Survivors