Last week, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) issued another significant ruling regarding A1 certificates. The Court has again reminded that the A1 certificate issued binds institutions and courts of the host State until it is officially withdrawn or annulled by the authority that issued them. This is a response to the doubts of the Austrian court, which examined the validity of issued A1 certificates to posted workers from Hungary.
As we read in the official communication of the Tribunal, even the Administrative Commission, which conducts mediation between the institutions of the Member States regarding the validity of the A1 certificates, has only consultative competence. It cannot invalidate the issued documents. Important statements are made about the replacement of employees.
The Court stressed that where an employee posted by an employer to work in another Member State is replaced by another employee seconded by another employer, the latter employee may not continue to be subject to the legislation of the Member State in which the employer normally carries on its activities. As a general rule, an A1 certificate issued by the competent social security institution of a Member State (Hungary in this case) is binding on both the social security institutions and the courts of the Member State in which the activity is carried out (Austria) so long as that certificate has not been withdrawn or declared invalid by the Member State in which it was issued.
How this ruling will affect the implementation of transport services – the coming months will show.
The content of the CJEU press release can be found on the website of the EU Tribunal of Justice.
Photo: Flickr.com/katarina_dzurekova CC BY 2.0