Hello, my name is Herwig Verschueren, and I'm a professor of International and European Labor and Social Security Law at the University of Antwerp in Belgium. In this series of lectures, together with my assistant Bartek Bednarowicz, we will bring you closer to the matters of social security coordination at European Union level. There is a high chance that the sole topic of social security might bring already fear and confusion, but please, do not get fooled by appearances and do not take all the prejudice for granted. We will help you to grasp the subject by showing its practical application, as it is all about practice, isn't it? Indeed, social security is sometimes a bit technical, but it has been created and developed by lawyers, not only for other lawyers, but more importantly, for regular citizens like you and me. This is clearly the case when you cross borders in the EU and exercise your free movement rights that are confirmed on the European citizens by virtue of EU law, whether as workers or self-employed persons. Let us highlight the outline of this series of lectures. In the next video lectures, we will first touch upon the EU legal social security coordination instruments that are in force, and then present their personal and material scope of application. In the fourth video lecture, we will deal with some general principles of EU social security coordination that play a major role in its application. Then, in the fifth video lecture, we will lay down the basic rules on the determination of the applicable social security legislation. Afterwards, in the sixth video lecture, we will focus on the special rules on posting of workers. In the seventh video lecture, on the other hand, we will analyze the special rules in cases of pursuing activities in more than one member state. Then, in the eighth video lecture, we will address the issues of abuse and fraud, to show you later on in the ninth video lecture, how specific control mechanisms and enforcement look like. Finally, in the 10th video lecture, we will apply all the rules to workers engaged in a cross-border road transport sector. So buckle up, sit back, relax, and enjoy. Though before we embark on this tricky journey on EU social security coordination, let us draw your attention in this introductory video to the very importance of the topic. Suppose you are working citizen in Belgium, and you decide to take up another job in the Netherlands, have you ever wondered what will happen with your pension rights? Which member state will have to pay your pension? Where will you have to pay your social security contributions if you keep residing in Belgium but work in the Netherlands? What happens if, over the course of your career, you will be working in a few member states consecutively? What about access to social assistance, and benefits if you lose your job and you want to apply for an unemployment benefit or a job seekers allowance? Are you also may be eligible for child benefits if your children are not residing in a member state in which you are working? All these matters are actually regulated at EU level in order to bring coherence and clarity. These regulations coordinate the social security systems of the member states, yet they do not harmonize them. What is the major difference, and why is that? Well, harmonization is all about bringing laws together in order to secure their uniform application to create common standards. Coordination, on the other hand, does not imply the uniformity of the rules, but it aims at elimination of any negative consequences for the migrating individual, which may arise from differences between various social security systems. There's more, the EU simply lacks competence to harmonize social security. In other words, member states retain powers to organize their systems as they wish, creating therefore, deliberately or not, some room for legal uncertainty or lack of clarity for EU mobile citizens. In the light of the foregoing, the main objective of the EU social security coordination is twofold. Firstly, it contributes to the establishment of the greatest possible freedom of movement for persons. Secondly, it attempts to prevent individuals from losing their social security rights or having their benefits reduced by making use of the right of freedom of movement within the EU. This is why, when talking about working across the borders of the EU, as you can see, we cannot leave out social security matters since they intertwine with each other. One can not exist or at least function properly like a well-oiled machine without the other. Conclusion, do not underestimate the impact of social security law. As you know, this course is particularly oriented at cross-border road transport. Even if you're not involved or you do not plan to be involved in that sector, almost every day, you make use of services of truck drivers, especially when it comes to buying good, be it groceries, appliances or furniture. Within the EU internal market, free movement of goods is secured, and those goods are usually transported and delivered by virtue of freedom of services. With no borders, thanks to Schengen, thousands of trucks on a daily basis transport goods from one member state to another passing by the territories of other member states. Having that in mind, have you ever wondered how complex it may be to determine the applicable social security laws for the truck driver, considering transport's international dimension? If drivers pass through one member state, they are subject to the social security laws of that member state? Stay tuned to get all the answers, as in the next video, we will begin our course with an overview of the applicable legal instruments of EU social security coordination. Thank you very much for your attention, and we hope to see you soon.