The meeting of the general managers of the Nordic social security institutions was arranged in Finland this year, by the Finnish Centre for Pensions and the Social Insurance Institution of Finland (Kela). 

Digitalisation was at the forefront of important current themes that were discussed. Job markets become more international and cross-border mobility increases, so the exchange of information between authorities must become swifter.  

On the initiative of the Swedish pension authority Pensionsmyndigheten, an extensive  preliminary survey on deepening Nordic cooperation will be made.  

An exchange of information that is more real-time would increase cost effectiveness and better protect the social security rights of people moving between the Nordic countries. 

From the citizen’s perspective, it is important that benefit applications are handled quickly and on the right grounds. Other upsides include less abuse of the system and easier error correction.  

A shared vision and road map is also crucial from the perspective of EU-level digitalisation projects. 

“Digitalisation notably improves social insurance implementation and benefits the customer. The long tradition of information sharing between the Nordic countries makes it possible to cooperate on influencing EU initiatives and regulations as well”, says Director Mikko Kautto (Finnish Centre for Pensions).  

A long tradition of cooperation 

The meeting of the general directors is arranged annually. It is part of a long and established cooperation: the Nordic social security convention was first signed in the 1950s and has been updated numerous times since then.  

The cross-border exchange of information that the Finnish Centre for Pensions is mainly responsible for pertains to pension claims of people who have worked abroad and to pension insurance for work abroad. 

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Insurance while working abroad (Etk.fi)