How the Czech Solvit Centre Helped Citizens and Entrepreneurs in 2015

SOLVIT centres take action against any case of breaching European law, unfair rules or decisions and discriminatory red tape in the area of services on the Single Market. In 2015, the same as in the previous years, the Czech SOLVIT helped many citizens and entrepreneurs to solve their problems, this being free of charge.

Social and Health Benefits

Problems connected to social and health benefits were among the typical examples of cases the Czech SOLVIT team dealt with in 2015. Indeed, they formed more than 50% of all cases.

For example, in 2015, the Czech SOLVIT centre was contacted by a client who had applied for child benefits in Germany. The competent authorities were unable to communicate within the set period
of time until the intervention on the part of the SOLVIT centres involved. At the end of the year,
however, the client turned to SOLVIT again because her request was fully complied, but only partially.
The allowances did not cover the entire period for which she requested them.The Czech SOLVIT centre helped her repeatedly and solved the matter successfully.

Last year, the SOLVIT team likewise dealt with the case of a Czech citizen who worked as a lawyer
in the Czech Republic and partly also in Italy. The SOLVIT centre was asked for help regarding the request
on the part of Italian authorities demanding the payment of social insurance contributions even though they had no right to do so. The Czech lawyer was working mainly in the Czech Republic and, therefore,
his social insurance contributions fell under Czech law. The SOLVIT team reminded the Italian authorities that such a requirement on their part was in contradiction to European law and, as a result, the case
was solved successfully.

The SOLVIT centre also helped a Czech citizen who worked in Romanian mines for 20 years. After his return to the Czech Republic in 2011, he was receiving a pension from the competent authorities
in Romania. However, three years later, in 2014, the pension payment stopped without any reason whatsoever. The Czech citizen in question sent a request to the competent Romanian authorities through the Czech Social Security Administration in accordance with the rules of EU social security coordination. When the Romanian authorities did not respond, he sent an enquiry about his case to the Czech SOLVIT centre. The matter was solved successfully on the grounds of cooperation between the Czech and Romanian SOLVIT centre. The Romanian authorities remedied the situation, sent him a new pension assessment and reimbursed all the suspended payments.

Problems of a Foreign Transportation Company in the Czech Republic

The Czech SOLVIT Centre helped to a solve a case of a German transportation company whose bus with tourists on board was held by the Czech police because the driver’s licence had a damaged chip and, for this reason, the licence was invalid. Therefore, the police did not allow him to continue in his journey and passengers had to wait for another bus to come. The transportation company sent a request to the Czech SOLVIT centre describing the incident as a breach of European law because the police did not take into consideration any other document provided by the driver. The Czech SOLVIT centre contributed to the clarification of the whole matter. In cases such as this, clear rules on the European level exist and, therefore, the complaint on the part of the German company was not accepted.

In like manner, the SOLVIT centre interfered in the case of a German bus driver who was prevented from driving his vehicle until he paid a deposit because he had not inserted a special driver’s card into the digital speedometer. The driver adverted to an exception concerning public transport not exceeding the speed
of 50 km per hour. The team of the SOLVIT centre played a role in clarifying the situation. During the investigation of the matter it was found out that the driver was driving without the inserted driver’s card based on recommendations issued by the German Association of Carriers. Unfortunately, the association
in question provided the driver with a mistaken interpretation of EU rules. It was proved that the action taken by the police of the Czech Republic was in line with EU law.

Assistance beyond SOLVIT

The Czech SOLVIT centre tries to help its clients even though the problem cannot be solved within the SOLVIT system. The point in mind can be illustrated by the case of a Czech transport company responsible for the transport of newly manufactured buses to Italy. The buses were seized by the Italian police with the argument that their technical eligibility was not properly checked and, therefore, they could not be transported on public roads. The Italian authorities insisted on their position. The Czech SOLVIT centre helped the Czech company to formulate legal arguments in such a manner that a complaint could be sent directly to the European Commission.