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8 SEPTEMBER 2015. - Act to approve the Convention on Social Security between the Kingdom of Belgium and the Republic of Moldova, made in Brussels on 12 September 2012 (1) (2)

PHILIPPE, King of the Belgians,
To all, present and to come, Hi.
The House of Representatives adopted and sanctioned the following:
Article 1^er. This Act regulates a matter referred to in Article 74 of the Constitution.
Art. 2. The Convention on Social Security between the Kingdom of Belgium and the Republic of Moldova, held in Brussels on 12 September 2012, will come out of its full effect:
Art. 3. The amendments to the provisions of Articles 7 to 10 of the Convention, as provided for in Article 11 of the Convention, shall be effective and effective.
Promulgate this law, order that it be clothed with the seal of the State and published by the Belgian Monitor.
Given in Brussels, September 8, 2015.
PHILIPPE
By the King:
Minister of Foreign and European Affairs,
D. REYNDERS
The Minister of Social Affairs,
Ms. M. DE BLOCK
The Minister of Pensions,
D. BACQUELAINE
Seal of the state seal:
The Minister of Justice,
K. GEENS
____
Notes
(1) House of Representatives (www.lachambre.be):
Documents: 54-1081
Full report : 02/07/2015
(2) Effective date: 1^er January 2016.

Convention on Social Security between the Kingdom of Belgium and the Republic of Moldova
The Kingdom of Belgium
and
The Republic of Moldova,
Animated by the desire to settle the mutual relations between the two States in the field of social security,
Decided to conclude a Convention for that purpose and agreed as follows:
PART I^er. - General provisions
Article 1^er
Definitions
1. For the purposes of this Convention, the following terms shall be:
(a) "Belgium": the Kingdom of Belgium;
"Moldova": Republic of Moldova.
(b) "Resident":
concerning Belgium: a person with Belgian nationality;
concerning Moldova: a person considered to be a national in accordance with Moldovan legislation.
(c) "Legislation": the laws and regulations referred to in section 2.
(d) "Competent Authority": Ministers responsible, each with respect to it, of the application of the legislation referred to in Article 2, paragraph 1^er of this Convention.
(e) "Organism": the institution, organization or authority responsible for applying, in whole or in part, the legislation referred to in Article 2, paragraph 1^er of this Convention.
(f) "Competent organization": the organization that has the financial burden of benefits.
(g) "Insurance Period": any period recognized as an insurance period by the legislation under which this period was completed, as well as any period assimilated to an insurance period and recognized by that legislation.
(h) "Persons insured": any person who meets the requirements of the legislation of the Contracting State competent to be entitled to benefits in the light of the provisions of this Convention.
(i) "Prestation": any pension, cash benefit provided for in the legislation of each Contracting State, including any supplements or increases that are applicable under the laws referred to in Article 2 of this Convention.
(j) "Family member": any person defined or recognized as a member of the family or designated as a member of the household by the legislation of the Contracting State that has the responsibility for the benefits.
(k) "Residence": the usual stay.
(l) "Hello": temporary stay.
2. Any term used in this Convention, not defined in paragraph 1^er of this section, has the meaning assigned to it by the legislation that applies.
Article 2
Field of material application
1. This Convention applies:
(a) with regard to Belgium, the relevant legislation:
(i) benefits relating to occupational accidents and diseases;
(ii) pension and survival of employed workers;
(iii) benefits relating to the disability of employees and merchant marines;
and, with respect to title II only, the relevant legislation:
(iv) social security of employed workers;
(b) with regard to Moldova, the State social insurance legislation governing:
(i) old age pension;
(ii) disability pensions caused by general diseases;
(iii) disability pensions and allowances caused by work accidents or occupational diseases;
(iv) survivors ' pensions;
and, with respect to title II only, the relevant legislation:
(v) the social insurance of employed workers.
2. This Convention will also apply to legislation that will amend or supplement the legislation listed in paragraph 1^er of this article.
3. This Convention shall apply to legislation extending those referred to in paragraph 1^er of this Article to new categories of beneficiaries if there is no opposition in this regard of the Contracting State that amends its legislation, notified to the other Contracting State within six months from the official publication of the said laws.
4. This Convention shall not apply to legislation establishing a new social security branch unless an agreement is reached between the competent authorities of the Contracting States.
Article 3
Field of personal application
Unless otherwise provided, this Convention shall apply to persons who are or have been subject to the legislation of one or two Contracting States and to any other person whose derivative rights arise from the persons mentioned above.
Article 4
Equal treatment
Unless otherwise provided in this Convention, the persons referred to in Article 3 of this Convention shall be subject to the obligations and shall be entitled to the law of the Contracting State under the same conditions as the nationals of that State.
Article 5
Export of benefits
l. Unless otherwise provided in this Convention, the benefits of disability, occupational accidents and occupational diseases, as well as those relating to retirement and survival pensions, acquired under the legislation of one of the Contracting States, may not be suspended or abolished, or may not be reduced or amended by the fact that the beneficiary resides or resides in the territory of the other Contracting State.
2. Retirement and survival benefits, occupational accidents and occupational diseases due under the legislation of one of the Contracting States are paid to nationals of the other Contracting State who reside in the territory of a third State under the same conditions as if they were nationals of the first Contracting State residing in the territory of that third State.
Article 6
Reduction, suspension or deletion clauses
1. The reduction, suspension or deletion clauses provided for in the legislation of a Contracting State, in the event of a cumulative benefit with other social security benefits or with other income as a result of the exercise of a professional activity, shall be enforceable to the beneficiaries, even if the benefit is acquired under a scheme of the other Contracting State or if it is income obtained from a professional activity.
2. However, the provisions of the first paragraph shall not apply to the cumulative benefits of the same kind calculated on the basis of the duration of the periods in the two Contracting States.
PART II. - Provisions determining the applicable legislation
Article 7
General rules
1. Subject to articles 8 to 11 of this Convention, the applicable legislation shall be determined in accordance with the following provisions:
(a) a person who engages in an employment activity in the territory of a Contracting State shall be subject to the law of that State, irrespective of the State in which his or her employer has his or her seat;
(b) the person who is a member of the rolling or navigating personnel of a company performing, on behalf of others or on their own behalf, international transport of passengers or goods by rail, road, air or ferry and having its seat in the territory of a Contracting State shall be subject to the law of the latter State. However, where the undertaking has, in the territory of the other Contracting State, a branch or permanent representation, the employee employed by the latter is subject to the legislation of the Contracting State in the territory of which it is located;
(c) a person carrying on business at sea on board a ship flying the flag of a Contracting State shall be subject to the law of the State in which that person has his residence.
2. The person who simultaneously carries on an employee activity in the territory of the two Contracting States shall be subject to the law of the Contracting State in the territory of which it resides. For the determination of the amount of income to be taken into account in respect of contributions due under the legislation of that Contracting State, it shall be taken into account the professional income of employees made in the territory of the two Contracting States, according to their respective legislation.
Article 8
Special rules
1. The employee who, being in the service of a company having in the territory of one of the Contracting States an establishment of which he or she normally belongs, shall be detached by that undertaking in the territory of the other Contracting State to carry out work on behalf of the other Contracting State, shall remain subject to the law of the first Contracting State as if he or she continued to be occupied in his or her territory provided that the foreseeable duration of the work that he or he or she shall perform shall not exceed twenty months Members of the family accompanying the employee shall be subject to the legislation of the first Contracting State unless they carry out professional activities.
2. In the case of the detachment referred to in paragraph 1^er of this Article shall continue beyond twenty-four months, the competent authorities of the two Contracting States, or the bodies designated by these authorities, may agree that the employee shall remain subject only to the law of the first Contracting State. However, this extension cannot be granted for a period exceeding thirty-six months. It must be requested before the end of the initial period of twenty-four months.
3. Paragraph 1^er this Article shall apply where a person, after being sent by his employer from the territory of a Contracting State to the territory of a third country, is then sent by that employer of the territory of the third country to the territory of the other Contracting State.
Article 9
Staff members
Officials and assimilated personnel of a Contracting State who are detached from the territory of the other Contracting State to carry out their activities, remain, as well as members of their families who do not exercise their own professional activity, subject to the legislation of the first Contracting State.
Article 10
Members of diplomatic missions and consular posts
This Convention shall not affect the provisions of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 18 April 1961 or the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations of 24 April 1963.
Article 11
Derogations
The competent authorities may, in common agreement, for the sake of certain persons or certain categories of persons, provide for exemptions from the provisions of Articles 7 to 10 provided that the persons concerned are subject to the legislation of one of the Contracting States.
PART III. - Specific provisions concerning benefits
CHAPTER 1^er. - Occupational accidents and diseases
Article 12
Consideration of occupational accidents and diseases
If the legislation of a Contracting State explicitly or implicitly provides that the industrial accidents or occupational diseases that have occurred prior to the contracting State shall be taken into consideration to assess the degree of incapacity for work, occupational accidents and occupational diseases that have occurred before the law of the other Contracting State shall be deemed to have occurred under the legislation of the first Contracting State.
Article 13
Finding of occupational disease
1. Where the victim of a professional illness has engaged in an activity likely to cause the illness under the laws of the two Contracting States, the benefits to which the victim or his survivors may claim are granted exclusively under the laws of the Contracting State in the territory of which the activity was carried out in the last place and subject to the fulfilment of the conditions provided by that legislation, taking into account, where appropriate, the provisions of paragraph 2.
2. If the award of professional sickness benefits under the legislation of a Contracting State is conditional on the condition that the illness under consideration has been medically recognized for the first time in its territory, that condition shall be deemed to be met when the illness was first found in the territory of the other Contracting State.
3. If the granting of occupational sickness benefits under the legislation of a Contracting State is conditional on the condition that an activity likely to cause the disease under consideration has been carried out for a certain period of time, the competent body of that State shall take into account, to the extent necessary, periods during which such activity was carried out under the law of the other Contracting State, as if it had been exercised under the law of the first Contracting State.
Article 14
Aggravation of occupational disease
Where, in the event of a worsening of a professional illness, the insured person who has benefited or has benefited from a benefit for a professional illness under the legislation of one of the Contracting States shall, for a similar occupational illness, apply the following rules:
(a) if the person has not exercised employment in the territory of that other Contracting State likely to cause or aggravate occupational disease, the competent body of the first Contracting State is required to assume the charge of the benefits, taking into account the aggravation, according to the legislation that it applies;
(b) if the person has exercised such employment in the territory of that other Contracting State, the competent body of the first Contracting State shall bear the charge of the benefits, in the absence of the aggravation, in accordance with the legislation that it applies; the competent body of the second Contracting State shall grant the person a benefit whose amount is determined according to the law of that Contracting State and which is equal to the difference between the amount of the benefit due after the aggravation and the amount of the benefit that would have been due before the aggravation.
CHAPTER 2. - Old age, survival and disability benefits
Section 1^re. - Provisions relating to old age and survival benefits
Article 15
Total insurance periods
1. Subject to the provisions of paragraph 2, the periods of insurance and the periods assimilated in accordance with the legislation of one of the Contracting States relating to pension insurance shall be totaled as necessary, provided that they do not overlap, with the periods of insurance carried out under the laws of the other Contracting State, for the acquisition, maintenance or recovery of the right to benefits.
2. Where the laws of one of the Contracting States subordinate the granting of certain benefits provided that the periods of insurance have been fulfilled in a specified profession, shall not be totaled, for the benefit of such benefits, only the periods of insurance carried out or assimilated in the same profession in the other Contracting State.
3. Where the legislation of one of the Contracting States provides for the granting of certain benefits provided that the periods of insurance have been fulfilled in a specified profession and when such periods have been unable to grant such benefits, such periods shall be deemed to be valid for the purpose of establishing the benefits provided by the general scheme of employed workers.
4. Where, notwithstanding the application of paragraph 1^er, the person does not meet the conditions to open the right to benefits, are totaled the insurance periods under the legislation of a third State with which the two contracting States are bound, each with respect to it, by a social security agreement providing for the totalization of insurance periods.
5. Where only one of the Contracting States is bound to a third State by a social security agreement which applies to that person, the periods of insurance carried out under the legislation of that third State shall be totaled by the only Contracting State bound to that third State.
Article 16
Calculation of pension and survival benefits
1. When the person meets the requirements of the legislation of one of the Contracting States for entitlement to benefits without the need to complete the benefits, the competent body of that State shall calculate the amount of the benefit directly on the basis of the periods of insurance carried out in that State and according to its own legislation.
The organization also calculates the amount of the benefit that would be obtained by application of the rules set out in paragraph 2 (a) and (b). The highest amount is only retained.
2. If a person may claim a benefit under the law of one of the Contracting States, whose right is only open in the light of the totalization of insurance periods carried out in accordance with Article 15 of this Convention, the following rules apply:
(a) the competent body of that State shall calculate the theoretical amount of the benefit that would be payable if all insurance periods under the laws of the two Contracting States had been carried out only under the legislation it applies;
(b) that organization then calculates the amount due, on the basis of the amount referred to in paragraph (a), on the basis of the duration of the insurance periods under its sole legislation in relation to the duration of all insurance periods recorded under item (a).
Section 2. - Disability benefits provisions
Article 17
Total insurance periods
For the acquisition, maintenance or recovery of the right to disability benefits, the provisions of Article 15 of this Convention shall apply by analogy.
Article 18
Calculation of disability benefits
1. If the right to disability benefits under the legislation of one of the two Contracting States is open only by totalization of the insurance periods in the two Contracting States, carried out in accordance with Article 17 of this Convention, the amount of the benefit due shall be determined in accordance with the terms and conditions established by Article 16, paragraph 2 of this Convention.
2. Without prejudice to the provisions of Article 6 of this Convention, the competent Belgian body shall, however, grant an additional:
(a) that the right to Belgian disability benefits is open without the need to appeal to the provisions of Article 17 of this Convention;
(b) and that the amount resulting from the addition of benefits from the two Contracting States calculated in accordance with paragraph 1^er of this article is less than the amount of the benefit due on the basis of Belgian legislation alone.
This supplement is equal to the difference between the amount referred to in point (b) and the amount due under Belgian legislation alone.
Article 19
Disability benefits during a stay
The holder of a disability benefit from Belgian legislation retains the benefit of this benefit during a stay in Moldova, when this stay was previously authorized by the competent Belgian body. However, this authorization may only be refused when the stay is in the period in which, under Belgian law, the competent Belgian body must conduct the assessment or review of the condition of disability.
Section 3. - Common provisions for old age, survival and disability benefits
Rule 20
Insurance periods below one year
Notwithstanding the provisions of articles 15 and 17 of this Convention, in situations referred to in articles 16, paragraph 2 and 18, paragraph 1^erno disability, retirement or survival benefit is granted by the competent body of a Contracting State when the total insurance periods under its legislation, following the realization of the risk, are less than one year.
Article 21
New possible calculation of benefits
1. If, due to the increase in the cost of living, the change in the level of wages or other reasons of accommodation, the old age, survival or disability benefits granted under the legislation of one of the two Contracting States are amended by a percentage or amount determined, the competent body of the other Contracting State is not required to make a new calculation of the said benefits.
2. In the event of a change in the method of establishment or the rules for calculating old age, survival or disability benefits, a new calculation of benefits shall be made in accordance with Article 16 or 18 of this Convention.
This rule will not affect benefits already paid at the time of the coming into force of this amendment.
PART IV. - Miscellaneous provisions
Article 22
Responsibilities of competent authorities
The competent authorities:
(a) establish, by administrative arrangement, the necessary measures for the application of this Convention and designate the liaison bodies and the competent bodies;
(b) define the administrative mutual assistance procedures including the payment of expenses related to obtaining medical, administrative and other certificates required for the purposes of this Convention;
(c) disclose directly any information regarding measures taken to implement this Convention;
(d) notify, as soon as possible and directly, any changes to their legislation that may affect the application of this Convention.
Article 23
Administrative collaboration
1. For the purposes of this Convention, the competent authorities and the competent bodies of each of the Contracting States shall lend their good offices, as if it were the application of their own legislation. This assistance is in principle free of charge; However, the competent authorities may agree on the reimbursement of certain costs.
2. The benefit of the exemptions or reductions of taxes, stamp duties, transplantation or registration provided for in the legislation of one of the Contracting States for the documents or documents to be produced pursuant to the legislation of that State shall be extended to the documents and documents similar to be produced under the legislation of the other Contracting State.
3. All acts and documents to be produced under this Convention shall be exempted from the legalization visa of diplomatic or consular authorities.
4. For the purposes of this Convention, the competent authorities, the liaison agencies and the competent bodies of the Contracting States are empowered to correspond directly with each other and with any person, regardless of their residence. Correspondence may be made in one of the official languages of the Contracting States.
Article 24
Requests, declarations and remedies
1. Requests, declarations or appeals that should have been brought, according to the law of a Contracting State, within a specified period of time, to an authority, body or jurisdiction of that Contracting State, shall be admissible if they are brought within the same period to an authority, body or jurisdiction of the other Contracting State. In this case, the authority, body or jurisdiction so seized shall forthwith transmit such requests, declarations or recourse to the authority, body or jurisdiction of the first Contracting State either directly or through the competent authorities of the Contracting States.
The date on which such requests, declarations or appeals have been filed with an authority, body or jurisdiction of the other Contracting State is considered to be the date on which the competent authority, body or jurisdiction of the first Contracting State is brought.
2. An application or document may not be rejected because it is written in an official language of the other Contracting State.
Rule 25
Communication of personal data
1. Organizations of the two Contracting States are authorized to communicate, for the purposes of the application of this Convention, personal data, including data relating to the income of persons whose knowledge is necessary for the organization of a Contracting State for the application of social security legislation.
2. The communication by the agency of a Contracting State of personal data is subject to the data protection legislation of that Contracting State.
3. The preservation, processing or dissemination of personal data by the agency of the Contracting State to which it is communicated shall be subject to the data protection legislation of that Contracting State.
4. The data referred to in this Article shall not be used for any purpose other than the implementation of social security laws.
Rule 26
Payment of benefits
1. The competent bodies, debtors of benefits under this Convention, shall be validly released in the currency of their State.
2. The financial transfers resulting from the application of this Convention shall take place in accordance with the relevant agreements between the two Contracting States.
3. The legislation of a Contracting State in respect of foreign exchange control shall not impede the free transfer of financial amounts resulting from the application of this Convention.
Rule 27
Recognition of decisions and binding documents
1. The enforceable decisions rendered by a court of one of the Contracting States, as well as the enforceable acts rendered by the competent authority or an agency of one of the Contracting States, relating to social security contributions and other social security requests, shall be recognized in the territory of the other Contracting State.
2. Recognition may be denied only when it is incompatible with the legal principles or public order of the Contracting State in the territory of which the decision or act must be executed.
3. The procedure for the execution of decisions and acts that have become final must be in conformity with the legislation governing the execution of such decisions and acts of the Contracting State in the territory of which the execution takes place. The decision or act is accompanied by a certificate attesting to its enforceability.
4. The social security contributions due to an organization of one of the Contracting States have, in the course of a procedure of execution, bankruptcy or forced liquidation in the territory of the other Contracting State, the same priority as the equivalent claims in the territory of that Contracting State.
5. Claims to be subject to recovery or forced recovery are subject to the same treatment as claims of the same nature of an organization located in the territory of the Contracting State on which the collection or forced recovery is carried out.
Rule 28
Settlement of disputes
Disputes relating to the interpretation and application of this Convention shall be settled by negotiation between the competent authorities.
Rule 29
Undue payments
1. If the agency of a Contracting State has paid to the beneficiary of benefits an amount that exceeds the amount to which it is entitled, that agency may request, under the conditions and within the limits of the legislation it applies, to the agency of the other Contracting State, debtor of a corresponding benefit in favour of that beneficiary, to retain the amount paid in excess of the recalls of the arrears due to the recipient. The body of the other Contracting State shall operate the deduction under the conditions and limits where such compensation is authorized by the legislation it applies, as if it were to be served too much by itself and shall transfer the amount so retained to the creditor body of the first Contracting State.
The terms and conditions of application of this provision will be mutually agreed between the competent Belgian and Moldovan authorities.
2. If the amount paid in excess cannot be retained on the termination reminders, the agency of a Contracting State that has paid to a beneficiary of benefits an amount to which it is not entitled may, under the conditions and limits provided for in the legislation that it applies, request the agency of the other Contracting State, debtor of benefits in favour of that beneficiary, to retain that amount on the amounts it pays to the beneficiary. The body of the other Contracting State shall operate the deduction under the conditions and limits where such compensation is authorized by the legislation it applies, as if it were to be served too much by itself and shall transfer the amount so retained to the creditor body of the first Contracting State.
Rule 30
Cooperation in combating fraud
In addition to the implementation of the general principles of administrative cooperation, the competent authorities will agree, in an administrative arrangement, on the terms and conditions under which they will assist in the fight against cross-border fraud related to contributions and social security benefits, in particular with regard to the effective residence of persons, the appreciation of resources, the calculation of contributions and the accumulated benefits.
PART V. - Transitional and final provisions
Rule 31
Eventualities prior to the entry into force of the Convention
1. This Convention also applies to any event that has occurred prior to its entry into force.
2. This Convention shall not open any entitlement to benefits for a period prior to its entry into force.
3. Any period of insurance under the law of one of the Contracting States before the date of entry into force of this Convention shall be taken into consideration for the determination of the right to a benefit opening in accordance with the provisions of this Convention.
4. This Convention does not apply to rights that have been liquidated by the payment of a lump sum allowance or the reimbursement of contributions.
Rule 32
Revision, prescription, termination
1. Any benefit that has not been liquidated or has been suspended because of the nationality of the person concerned or because of his residence in the territory of the Contracting State other than the territory of the competent body, shall be at the request of the person liquidated or restored from the date of entry into force of this Convention.
2. The rights of persons who have obtained, prior to the entry into force of this Convention, the liquidation of a benefit or annuity shall be revised upon request, taking into account the provisions of this Convention. In no case may such a review have the effect of reducing the prior rights of the persons concerned.
3. If the request referred to in paragraphs 1^er or 2 of this article shall be submitted within two years from the date of entry into force of this Convention, the rights opened in accordance with the provisions of this Convention shall be acquired from that date, without the law of either Contracting State, relating to the termination or limitation of rights, being enforceable.
4. If the request referred to in paragraphs 1^er or 2 of this Article shall be submitted after the expiration of two years after the date of entry into force of this Convention, the rights shall be acquired from the date of the application subject to more favourable provisions of the law of the Contracting State concerned.
Article 33 Duration of the Convention and guarantee of acquired or acquired rights
1. This Convention shall be concluded for an indefinite period.
2. Each Contracting State may denounce this Convention by written notification transmitted by diplomatic means to the other Contracting State with a notice of twelve months.
3. In the event of denunciation of this Convention, the rights and payments of benefits acquired under the Convention shall be maintained. Contracting States shall make arrangements with respect to acquisition rights.
Rule 34
Entry into force
This Convention shall enter into force on the first day of the third month following the date of receipt of the note by which the last of the two Contracting States has served the other Contracting State that the formalities required for the entry into force of this Convention are fulfilled.
In faith, the undersigned, duly authorized, have signed this Convention.
Done in Brussels on 12 September 2012, in duplicate, in French, Dutch and Moldovan, all texts being equally authentic.