What is MISSOC?
The EU's Mutual Information System on Social Protection (MISSOC) provides detailed, comparable and regularly updated information about national social protection systems in English, French and German.
MISSOC publishes twice a year (January and July) updated information on the social protection systems in the 27 EU Member States plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland, including:
- comparative tables covering 12 main areas of social protection: financing, healthcare, sickness, maternity, invalidity, old-age, survivors, employment injuries and occupational diseases, family, unemployment, guaranteed minimum resources and long-term care;
- organisational charts and short descriptions of the social protection structure in the 31 participating countries;
- short descriptions of the main social protection arrangements for the self-employed.
MISSOC is also in charge of annually updating a series of guides to national social security systems that are addressed to citizens moving within Europe.
Who uses MISSOC?
MISSOC is used by:
- Policy-makers and officials
- Researchers and students
- People who move to another European country to live or work
How is the information updated?
MISSOC is coordinated by the European Commission, with the assistance of a Secretariat it has appointed. Each of the countries covered designates one or two correspondents from the national ministries or institutions responsible for social security. The correspondents periodically update the comparative tables and the guides to national social security systems.