AFMP and EFTA Agreement

This section provides health-insurance information on the Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons between Switzerland and the member states of the European Union (AFMP) and the Agreement instituting the European Free Trade Area (EFTA).

Entry into force

The Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons (AFMP) between Switzerland and the European Union (EU) came into force on 1 June 2002. It grants Swiss and EU nationals the fundamental right of free choice of their place of work and domicile within the member states’ territory. An updated version of the EFTA Agreement also came into force on that date.

Adoption of European coordination law

When the AFMP and EFTA Agreement came into force, Switzerland adopted the European regulations on the coordination of social-security systems. On 1 May 2010, EEC regulations 1408/71 and 574/72 were replaced in all 27 EU member states by EC regulation 883/2004 (R 883/04) and by EC implementing regulation 987/2009 (R 987/09). Initially, these regulations did not apply to relations between Switzerland and the EU member states. They were adopted as part of the 3rd update of annex II to the AFMP, which came into force on 1 April 2012. Since 1 January 2016, (3rd update of appendix 2 of annex K to the EFTA Agreement) EC regulations 883/2004 and 987/2009 also apply within EFTA.

The AFMP has been extended to Croatia on 1 January 2017. The Regulations (CE) No 883/2004 and 987/2009 are therefore applicable to the relations between Switzerland and Croatia (see document below).

Electronic Exchange of Social Security Information (EESSI)

The new EU regulations provide for the replacement of the present E forms (currently in paper form) by a system of electronic data exchange between social-security institutions (Electronic Exchange of Social Security Information - EESSI). Implementation of this system is currently under way in Switzerland.