EU has established regulations on social insurance

The EU has established regulations on social insurance which
provide for reciprocal coverage among the Member States of the
EU and the European Economic Area (EEA): Austria, Belgium,
Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus (Greek part), Czech Republic, Denmark,
Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland,
Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Neth-
erlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovak Republic,
Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
Additionally, Germany has entered into social insurance agree-
ments with Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Mace-
donia, Montenegro, Morocco, Serbia, Tunisia, and Turkey. With
Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Israel, Japan, Korea, the United
States and Uruguay, Germany has entered into social insurance
agreements on pension insurance only.

In general, the social insurance agreements provide that an expa-
triate continues to contribute only to the social insurance plan in
his or her home country if the stay in the other country does not
exceed 24 months. In most cases, an extension can be applied
for. Generally, people can choose between the social security
systems of the two countries.

According to the agreements,
past work credits from both countries are combined for the pur-
pose of determining eligibility for social security benefts under
one of the two systems.