# C_2004217EN.01000102.xml

| 28.8.2004 | EN | Official Journal of the European Union | C 217/1 |
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28.8.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 217/1

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JUDGMENT OF THE COURT

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT

(Second Chamber)

of 8 July 2004

in Joined Cases C-502/01 and C-31/02 (reference for a preliminary ruling from the Sozialgericht Hannover and the Sozialgericht Aachen): Silke Gaumain-Cerri v Kaufmännische Krankenkasse-Pflegekasse, and Maria Barth v Landesversicherungsanstalt Rheinprovinz (1)

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(Social security - Freedom of movement for workers - EC Treaty - Council Regulation (EEC) No 1408/71 - Benefits designed to cover the risk of becoming reliant on care - Payment by the care insurance of old age insurance contributions of the carer assisting the reliant person)

(2004/C 217/02)

Language of the case: German

In Joined Cases C-502/01 and C-31/02: Reference to the Court under Article 234 EC from the the Sozialgericht Hannover (Germany) (C-502/01) and the Sozialgericht Aachen (Germany) (C-31/02) for a preliminary ruling in the proceedings pending before that court between Silke Gaumain-Cerri and Maria Barth and Kaufmännische Krankenkasse-Pflegekasse, and Landesversicherungsanstalt Rheinprovinz — on the interpretation of the provisions of the EC Treaty and of secondary legislation relating to freedom of movement of Union citizens and in particular of Council Regulation (EEC) No 1408/71 on the application of social security schemes to employed persons, to self-employed persons and to members of their families moving within the Community as amended and updated by Regulation (EC) No 118/97 of 2 December 1996 (OJ 1997 L 28, p. 1) — the Court (Second Chamber), composed of: C.W.A. Timmermans, President of the Chamber, J.-P. Puissochet (Rapporteur), R. Schintgen, F. Macken and N. Colneric, Judges; A. Tizzano, Advocate General; R. Grass, Registrar, has given a judgment on 8 July 2004 in which it has ruled:

| 1. | A benefit such as the payment, by the body providing care insurance, of old age insurance contributions of the third party providing care in the home of a reliant person in the circumstances of the cases in the main proceedings constitutes a sickness benefit to the advantage of the reliant person covered by Council Regulation (EEC) No 1408/71 on the application of social security schemes to employed persons, to self-employed persons and to members of their families moving within the Community as amended and updated by Regulation (EC) No 118/97 of 2 December 1996. |
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1.

A benefit such as the payment, by the body providing care insurance, of old age insurance contributions of the third party providing care in the home of a reliant person in the circumstances of the cases in the main proceedings constitutes a sickness benefit to the advantage of the reliant person covered by Council Regulation (EEC) No 1408/71 on the application of social security schemes to employed persons, to self-employed persons and to members of their families moving within the Community as amended and updated by Regulation (EC) No 118/97 of 2 December 1996.

| 2. | So far as concerns benefits such as those under German care insurance accorded in the circumstances of the cases in the main proceedings to an insured person resident on the territory of the competent State or to a person resident on the territory of another Member State and covered by that insurance as a member of the family of a worker, the Treaty, in particular Article 17 EC, and Regulation No 1408/71, as amended and updated by Regulation No 118/97, preclude payment of the old age insurance contributions of a national of a Member State in the position of the third party caring for the recipient of those benefits being refused by the competent institution on the ground that that third party or the aforementioned recipient resides in a Member State other than the competent State. |
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2.

So far as concerns benefits such as those under German care insurance accorded in the circumstances of the cases in the main proceedings to an insured person resident on the territory of the competent State or to a person resident on the territory of another Member State and covered by that insurance as a member of the family of a worker, the Treaty, in particular Article 17 EC, and Regulation No 1408/71, as amended and updated by Regulation No 118/97, preclude payment of the old age insurance contributions of a national of a Member State in the position of the third party caring for the recipient of those benefits being refused by the competent institution on the ground that that third party or the aforementioned recipient resides in a Member State other than the competent State.

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(1)  OJ C 84 of 6.4.2002.

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OJ C 109 of 4.5.2002.

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