The Convention is supported by a Supplementary Agreement. The Supplementary Agreement provides detailed guidance on the administration of the Convention; it also prescribes a number of standard forms to be used in the passing of information from one contracting party to another. No state can ratify the Convention without also ratifying the Supplementary Agreement239.
Some major provisions on administrative measures can be found within the Convention itself. Firstly, the Convention itself demands that all contracting parties co-operate, assisting each other as if they were applying their own legislation240. In other words anything one contracting party is required to do for another (such as the provision of benefits in-kind in relation to occupational injuries and diseases by the state of residence on behalf of the competent state) will be done with the same diligence as would be excepted of the completion of those same tasks under the national system. The social security authorities are not allowed to force people to make applications only in the official language of the competent state, applications made in the official language of any other contracting party must be duly processed241. If claimants are resident in the territory of a contracting party other than the competent state they may make their claim to the social security institutions in their state of residence and those institutions will be under a duty to pass those claims onto the competent state242.
Any particular measures necessary for the application of the national laws of certain contracting parties can be included in Annex VII to the Convention243. Such measures must be notified for new contracting parties on the date of signature or at latest at the date of ratification and need the approval of all contracting parties and signatory states. This also applies to each subsequent amendment of this and the other Annexes to the Convention which shall be notified within three months from the date of publication of a new law making an amendment necessary244.
The other Annexes to the Convention, which are also an integral part of the Convention245, consist of the definitions of the territories and nationals of the contracting parties (Annex I), the legislation and schemes covered by the Convention (Annex II), the provisions of bilateral and multilateral agreements kept in force (Annex III) and those extended to all nationals of the contracting parties (Annex V) as well as the special benefits to which the special provisions concerning equality of treatment apply (Annex IV) or which are excluded from export (Annex VI).
238
Article 58(2) of the Convention
239
Article 80(3) and (4) of the Convention
240 Article 64(2) of the Convention 241
Article 64(4) of the Convention
242
Article 66(1) of the Convention
243
Article 72 of the Convention
244
Article 73(2) of the Convention
245
The seven Annexes to the Supplementary Agreement primarily name the competent authorities (Annex I), institutions (Annexes II, III and VII), liaison offices (Annex IV) and banks (Annex VI) of the contracting parties which are responsible for the administration of the Convention246. Annex V lists the bilateral and multilateral administrative arrangements kept in force between contracting parties.
5.8 Ratification and Entry into Force
The Convention came into force three months after the third ratification on 1st March 1977. For those member states of the Council of Europe wishing to ratify the Convention now, its provisions will take effect from the third month after the deposit of an instrument of ratification247. The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe may invite non-member states to accede to the Convention provided that it receives the unanimous approval of all the contracting parties248.
For those states that have already ratified the Interim Agreements once they ratify the Convention the Interim Agreements shall cease to have effect between themselves and other contracting parties to the Convention. However, the Interim Agreements will still have effect with regards to those states that have ratified the Interim Agreements but not the Convention249.
When the Convention enters into force for a contracting party all periods of insurance or residence completed under the legislation of the new contracting party shall be taken into consideration for the purposes of aggregation. This is the case even if those periods were completed before the Convention entered into force250.
5.9 Denunciation
Any contracting party is entitled to denounce the Convention once the Convention has been in force for that party for at least five years251. However, even though a contracting party has denounced the Convention that party is still obliged to maintain all the rights that have been acquired under the Convention252. This means that any benefits claimed under its provisions must continue to be paid. Rights that are in the process of acquisition must also be maintained either by the conclusion of agreements between the contracting parties and the state denouncing the Convention or by national laws253.
246
Article 4 of the Supplementary Agreement
247
Article 75 of the Convention
248 Article 77 of the Convention 249
Article 76 of the Convention
250
Article 74(2) of the Convention
251
Article 78(2) of the Convention
252
Article 79(1) of the Convention
253