argomento: News del mese - Diritto Internazionale e Comunitario

Articoli Correlati: fraud

During an investigation about a local company, the Belgian Social Inspectorate found that all of its construction sites subcontracted to Bulgarian companies that were seconded workers in Belgium. The employment of Bulgarian workers was not reported to the Belgian body responsible for the social security contributions, as the same were in possession of the E 101 or A 1 certificates issued by Bulgarian institutions, certifying their registration with the Bulgarian social security system. A judicial inquiry started in Bulgaria as part of a rogatory ordered by a Belgian judge instructor found that the Bulgarian companies did not carry out any significant business in Bulgaria. The Belgian authorities then presented to the competent Bulgarian institution a reasoned request for a review or revocation of the certificates in question, but they never revoked them. The Belgian Court of Cassation, invested in the case, decided to submit a question to the UE Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling, asking if the judges of the host Member State may cancel or ignore an E 101 certificate when this certificate was obtained or invoked fraudulently. In today’s judgment (C-359/16), the Court refers to the principles of loyal cooperation and mutual trust: the certificate creates a presumption of regularity, but - if a Member State expresses reservations in order of its accuracy - the istitution issuing the certification must re-examine it in a reasonable time, expiring that the Court of the host Member State can ignore the certificate.