Germany - Previous benefits (in other EU countries) may be taken into account.
In this chapter, you will learn what effects relocating within the European Union has on your entitlements to social benefits.
Social insurance schemes and EU regulations
If you work in another EU country or in another neighbouring country subject to EU regulations, you are usually no longer insured in Germany. Your entitlements will therefore depend upon the laws of the country where you are working.
If you have worked in another EU country (or a state in which the same regulations apply) and/or paid social insurance contributions there, the entitlements you acquired there may be taken into consideration when calculating your welfare benefits in Germany.
Which social welfare entitlements are affected of your change of residence?
Under some conditions, you can combine the following welfare benefits within the European Economic Area (EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway), Switzerland and the United Kingdom*:
- Unemployment benefit;
- Citizen’s Allowance;
- State old age pension;
- Disability pension;
- Survivor’s pensions;
- Maternity allowance;
- Parental allowance.
* Each case needs to be assessed individually to determine whether a person falls within the scope of Art 30 of the Withdrawal Agreement, and so the EU Coordination Regulations apply, or whether they fall within the scope of situations described in Art 32 of the Withdrawal Agreement and/or come under domestic legislation and the Protocol on Social Security Coordination attached to the Trade and Cooperation Agreement.
What do I need to do?
If you have worked in a country governed by EU law and come back to Germany, you must bring along the following documents:
A receipt showing the social welfare contributions paid by you in the other country on the E104 and U1 forms (previously: E301). You can obtain these from your social insurance provider. Please check before your departure whether you have all the necessary documents for social insurance in Germany.
If you have received unemployment benefit or other unemployment support for four weeks in a country in the European Economic Area, Switzerland or the United Kingdom*, you may transfer this for three to six months to Germany for the job search. You need the U2 form for this (previously: E303).
* Each case needs to be assessed individually to determine whether a person falls within the scope of Art 30 of the Withdrawal Agreement, and so the EU Coordination Regulations apply, or whether they fall within the scope of situations described in Art 32 of the Withdrawal Agreement and/or come under domestic legislation and the Protocol on Social Security Coordination attached to the Trade and Cooperation Agreement.
Your rights
Official websites of the European Union:
- http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/internal_market/living_and_working_in_the_internal_market/c10521_en.htm (previously: 1408/71)
- EU Regulation 883/2004 of 29 April 2004 as a pdf: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32004R0883&from=EN
European Commission website: http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=849&langId=en
Further information
German Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs Wilhelmstr. 49, 10117 Berlin Tel.: +49 3018 5270 Fax: +49 3018 527-1830 email: info@bmas.bund.de
Home page: http://www.bmas.de