This B-solutions report includes an analysis of the legal framework concerning cross-border internships in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany, focusing on the challenges related to public health insurance coverage for cross-border mobile interns.
For students residing in border regions such as the Euregio Meuse-Rhine, exploring internship opportunities across borders can lead to increased internship opportunities and future career prospectives. By taking advantage of the training programmes available in Belgium and Germany, Dutch students in vocational and higher education (MBO, HBO, WO) gain practical, hands-on experience which strengthens their competences and future employment prospectives on the Euregional 360° labour market. Nevertheless, Municipality of Maastricht (case applicant) reports that such cross-border internship mobility is subject to obstacles, namely in relation to health insurance. Due to the differences in how internships are classified for social security purposes between the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany, the student might face the possibility of losing their health insurance coverage or needing to obtain new insurance in the neighboring state, or even finding themselves without any insurance coverage for healthcare costs at all.
