As the year 2012 is entering its final days, the plans for the following working year are already on the table. We are proud to briefly present you some of the trESS activities you may expect in working year 2013.

First of all, we will enthusiastically welcome a new member to the trESS network, as Professor Nada Bodiroga-Vukobrat (University of Rijeka) will join the project as the national expert for Croatia. As Croatia is set to become the 28th Member State of the European Union on 1 July 2013, our new expert will already be introduced in the network as from the start of the working year.

Secondly, you may already look forward to a new volume of inspirational trESS reports concerning the coordination of social security in the EU. In 2013, the previously yearly recurring ‘European report’ will re-appear and provide an overview of the recent trends and challenges in the broad field of the implementation of EU social security coordination. Besides this, the trESS Think Tank will further continue its activities in the field of long-term care, in particular by supporting the Commission in taking further legislative steps and the preparation of a legislative proposal. Finally, the new Analytical Study will deal with the very specific topics of prioritising of the right to sickness benefits in kind (Article 32 of Regulation 883/2004) as well as medical examination and administrative checks (Article 87 of Regulation 987/2009).

As to the well-known trESS national seminars, we can already announce that 2013 will bring a trilateral seminar Austria – Czech Republic – Slovenia. The full 2013 seminar agenda will be presented in our first newsletter of the new year.

As to the trESS website, the recurring activities such as the updating of the national case law and the national bibliographies will of course be continued. The webteam will also put a lot of effort in the promotion and branding of the trESS website and social media pages. In this regard, collaboration between trESS and MISSOC is envisaged.