CELEX: 61988CJ0029
Article 51 of the EEC Treaty
Possibility of back-paying contributions to a pension insurance scheme

Article 51 of the EEC Treaty and Regulation No 1408/71 provide only for the aggregation of insurance periods completed in different Member States . They do not, however, regulate the conditions under which those insurance periods are constituted . The conditions governing the right or obligation to become a member of a social security scheme are a matter to be determined by the legislation of each Member State ( see the judgments of 12 July 1979 in Case 266/78 Brunori v Landesversicherungsanstalt Rheinproving (( 1979 )) ECR 2705 and of 24 April 1980 in Case 110/79 Coonan v Insurance Officer (( 1980 )) ECR 1445 ). They are not therefore applicable for the purpose of determining the conditions of affiliation to a social security scheme, whether compulsory or voluntary .
Parties
In Case 29/88
REFERENCE to the Court under Article 177 of the EEC Treaty by the Sozialgericht ( Social Court ) Hamburg for a preliminary ruling in the proceedings pending before that court between
Wilhelm Schmitt, a retired office worker, residing in Hamburg,
and
Bundesversicherungsanstalt fuer Angestellte ( Federal Insurance Office for Clerical Staff ), Berlin,
on the interpretation of Article 51 of the EEC Treaty,
THE COURT ( Second Chamber ),
composed of : T . F . O' Higgins, President of Chamber, G . F . Mancini and F . A . Schockweiler, Judges,
( the grounds of the judgment are not reproduced )
in answer to the question submitted to it by the Sozialgericht Hamburg, by order of 12 May 1987, hereby rules :
Operative part
Article 51 of the EEC Treaty and Regulation No 1408/71 of the Council of 14 June 1971 on the application of social security schemes to employed persons and their families moving within the Community are not applicable for the purpose of determining the conditions of affiliation to a social security scheme, whether compulsory or voluntary .