A provisional agreement reached in April 2026 makes significant legislative changes that would modernize the existing European Union (EU) social security legislation (Regulation (EC) No 883/2004) to reflect the evolution of recent cross-border working patterns, which (subject to revisions) are aimed at greater legal certainty, targeted simplification and enhanced digitalization.

Proposal highlights

The proposed legislative amendment would change several items affecting cross-border employees and employers, including the following:

• Outside of the construction sector, an A1 certificate would not be required for short-term work of up to three working days within a 30-day period.
• An A1 certificate would not be required for business trips (newly defined) if the activity performed is not held to be commercial; e.g., no service is provided or no goods are supplied.
• Aside from the above exemptions, an A1 posting certificate application (prior notification) would need to be submitted in advance and the home authority must provide evidence of such submission immediately.
• An A1 certificate may still be requested and issued retroactively, but the host-country authority must be satisfied the document is valid.
• To enable an A1 certificate to be issued for a "posted" employee, the individual would be required to have at least three months' prior home-country social security affiliation.
• "Replacement workers" would be exempt from host-country social security if the total period of work activity does not exceed 24 months in the host location.
• Limited changes to the EU multi-state worker rules would confirm that:
• An initial A1 certificate can be issued for up to 24 months subject to renewal.
• Non-EU residents with EU multi-state activity would be deemed to be resident in the EU country where they pursue the majority of their EU activity.
• The concept of "employer" would be determined through an overall assessment, considering factors including turnover, where general meetings are held and where activity is habitually pursued.
• Changes would be made to unemployment, long-term care and family-benefit rules, which would affect cross-border workers.
• There would be an increased focus on encouraging Member States to adopt digitalized solutions for social security coordination, e.g., to support the "prior notification" mechanism.

Legislative timeline

The final vote in the European Parliament is expected to occur in July 2026. If adopted without material changes, the revised Regulations are expected to enter into force as early as October 2026, subject to some transitional provisions.

A transitional period of 24 months is expected to apply for certain elements of the new rules, including the rules on A1 requirements/exemptions.

Implications

Although the proposed simplifications are welcome, certain provisions introduce more complexity instead of reducing it and the proposed changes therefore might not relieve home authorities' issues in dealing with increased demand with limited resources.

The new rules could also lead to heightened monitoring and more frequent audits within the EU.

The proposed relaxation of the A1 application requirement introduces a new approach for employers, requiring them to identify the portion of business trips that are exempt from the application requirements. Each trip must be evaluated in this respect and — if exempted — proper documentation must be maintained. The proposed rules therefore place greater responsibility on employers. However, they do not address related obligations that may arise from other requirements such as immigration, the Posted Workers Directive or taxes, and access to third-party work sites

It is also unclear whether the European Economic Area (EEA) countries and Switzerland will fully adopt these provisions at the same time or whether the United Kingdom (UK) will consider implementing these proposed changes under the UK/EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) legislation, which remains separate.

What employers should do now

Although the revised rules are not yet in force, employers should consider:

• Reviewing their business travel, posting and mobility policies and processes
• Identifying current and future employee populations potentially affected by the changes
• Communicating these changes to relevant internal stakeholders
• Identifying the downstream impact on clients/customers/project deliverables

Affected businesses should engage with knowledgeable tax advisors and social security professionals for support on:

• Assessing the impact of the EU social security rules
• Redesigning mobility frameworks
• Implementing compliant and efficient processes across jurisdictions

(Note: This Alert is based on the provisional political agreement reached at EU level. The final content and timing of the revised Regulation remain subject to formal adoption.)