Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:2000:353
Date: 2000-06-29
Language of the case: French
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Social security for migrant workers
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Belgium

Summary of the Judgment 
1. Social security for migrant workers — Insurance in respect of old age and death — 
Benefits — Amendment of the calculation rules by Regulation No 1248/92 — 
Application of the new calculation rules — Transitional provisions — Scope — 
Recipients of pensions who, before the entry into force of the new provisions, had 
brought an action contesting the application of the national rules against over­
lapping — Covered 
(Council Regulation No 1408/71, Art. 95a, as amended by Regulation No 1248/92) 
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SUMMARY — JOINED CASES C-52/99 AND C-53/99 
2. Social security for migrant workers — Insurance in respect of old age and death — 
Benefits — Amendment of the calculation rules by Regulation No 1248/92 — 
Application of the new calculation rules — Transitional provisions — Conditions 
for application — Application for review by the person concerned — Verification 
obligation of the national court — Scope 
(Council Regulation No 1408/71, Art. 95a, as amended by Regulation No 1248/92) 
1. Article 95a of Regulation No 1408/71, 
as a m e n d e d by R e g u l a t i o n 
No 1248/92, laying down transitional 
provisions for application of Regula­
tion No 1248/92, applies to recipients 
of pensions who, before the date of 
entry into force of the amendments 
introduced by the latter regulation, had 
already brought proceedings before a 
national court seeking to obtain the 
right to the pension by contesting the 
application of the national rules against 
overlapping, even if a final decision in 
those proceedings had not yet been 
given at the time of the entry into force 
of the new provisions. 
(see para. 26 and operative part 1) 
2. As to the requisite form of the applica­
tion for review submitted by the person 
concerned pursuant to Article 95a of 
Regulation No 1408/71, as amended 
by Regulation No 1248/92, laying 
down transitional provisions for appli­
cation of Regulation No 1248/92, it is 
for the national court to determine, 
first, whether its national law requires 
an application for review to be made 
either to the competent social security 
institution within the period prescribed 
and in accordance with the relevant 
formal requirements, or to the court 
itself according to the applicable rules 
of procedure. Second, it is for that 
court to ensure that those requirements 
are not less favourable than those 
governing similar situations under 
domestic law and that they are not 
such as to render impossible in practice 
or excessively difficult the exercise of 
the rights conferred on claimants by 
Regulation No 1408/71, as amended. 
(see para. 42 and operative part 2) 
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