Freedom of movement is considered a fundamental human right. These rights can only be restricted in exceptional cases. Due to the development of globalization and people’s desire for a better life, people have increasingly started to move and work abroad. Society’s greater mobility has also had an impact on the development of social security law which, due to the increasing number of migrations, needed to increase the level of international cooperation. To this end, Member States conclude international agreements in the field of social security which allow persons who complete the required years of service in different countries to acquire social security rights to the same extent and under the same conditions as persons who complete their years of service in a single country, and to enjoy vested rights outside of their home state. The rights themselves are still governed by individual countries’ legislations.
Within the European Union, the field of social security is regulated by the Coordination Regulations, linking the various social security systems of the Member States. However, these regulations are not permitted to introduce new rights, as substantive law is left to be determined by individual Member States. In order to protect their citizens and due to economic interests, countries also conclude bilateral agreements with countries outside the European Union. Bilateral agreements concluded by the Slovenia must, of course, be in line with the Union acquis. Of all the bilateral agreements concluded, which protect the rights of workers who completed periods of insurance in the Contracting States, the most frequently used are those concluded with the countries of the former Yugoslavia.
This master's thesis deals with the scope of bilateral agreements in combination with the Slovenian and Union acquis, as in practice, combinations of completed insurance periods are also common in several European Union countries as well as countries with which Slovenia concluded international agreements.
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