Background:

Once beneficiaries of international protection reach retirement age, they are eligible to receive a pension in the country from which they have received protection. However, the Latvian authorities report that they experience instances where beneficiaries of international protection who receive a pension in Latvia are simultaneously eligible to receive a pension from their country of origin. Latvia reports lacking the mechanisms to facilitate the transfer of these payments, notably due to challenges in coordinating with third countries to verify employment history. The Latvian National Contact Point to the EMN launched this query to learn more about the legal frameworks and experiences of other EU Member States in addressing this issue.

Respondents:

20 EMN Member and Observer Countries (including BE) provided a public answer to this ad hoc query.

Findings:

A preliminary analysis of the results of the ad hoc query shows that:

• Out of the 20 responding countries, 8 countries (including BE) report that their legislation provides the possibility for beneficiaries of international protection (BIP) to be entitled to a pension in their country of origin. However, many countries also report that information on these pensions is often unavailable or very difficult to obtain, as it depends on declarations provided by the beneficiaries themselves.
   
• In addition to limited information, most countries reported the absence of established mechanisms to repatriate the funds from countries of origin. Some countries report the existence of mechanisms in the form of bilateral agreements between EU countries and third countries, which may include provisions regarding pensions (e.g. ‘bilateral social security agreements’). This is the case of BE, where the possibility of combining pension benefits in Belgium and in the country of origin exists and depends on bilateral agreements between Belgium and these third countries. In the absence of bilateral agreements, only BIP themselves can contact authorities from their country of origin to try and reach pension benefits to which they are entitled; however, this may prove difficult in practice due to their status as beneficiaries of international protection.
   
• The conditions and benefits of financial allocations for BIP who have reached retirement age vary greatly from country to country. Countries report different mechanisms and legislations for allocating pensions – either through the general pension legislation which also applies to nationals, or through separate mechanisms reserved for persons who do not meet the criteria to benefit from general pension (for instance, not enough years of work in BE). In BE, BIP are entitled to an “income guarantee for the elderly” from the Belgian State under certain conditions, which is separate from general pension legislation.

For further details, please read the compilation of answers attached above.