Czech presidency claims social benefits breakthrough for EU workers abroad

The Czech presidency of the EU claimed Tuesday a breakthrough in removing barriers faced by citizens living and working abroad when claiming social benefits in their host country. New rules for coordinating of EU social security systems have been hammered out between the presidency and European Parliament after years of wrangling, it said. Electronic data exchange between administrations is one of the main planks of the compromise deal allowing benefits applications to be dealt with faster. The deal still requires final ratification.