Icelandic Law and Practice in the Field of EEA Social Security Law: A Call for Improvement

Abstract

So far, only two cases in the field of EEA social security law have been referred by Icelandic courts to the EFTA Court. However, this area of law has been more extensively addressed by the Icelandic Welfare Appeals Committee and the Althingi Ombudsman. Analysing these cases reveals that there are several and to some extent systematic problems in Iceland in this field. In particular, the legislature appears to struggle with the important principle of aggregation. This is evident in both the judgments of the EFTA Court in this field, i.e. E-4/07 Þorkelsson and E-5/21 Einarsdóttir. Furthermore, in the wake of the Welfare Appeals Committee’s decision, in the re-opening of Case No. 115/2020, Althingi appears to have deliberately chosen to violate the provisions of Social Security Regulation 883/2004. This was achieved by classifying the rehabilitation pension as social assistance, thereby excluding it from the Regulation's scope. Finally, the article highlights the administration's improper practices, as outlined in the Althingi Ombudsman’s Opinion in Case 8955/2016. In this case, the administration was compelled to re-open approximately 1,400 cases for further review due to its prior unlawful practice of reducing invalidity benefits based on periods spent abroad.