Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:1999:442
Date: 1999-09-21
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Competition;Agreements, decisions and concerted practices;Social security for migrant workers;Free movement of workers;Anti-discrimination;Non-discrimination on grounds of nationality
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Luxembourg

Summary of the Judgment 
1. Freedom of movement for persons — Workers — Definition — National of a 
Member State employed by an international organisation — Included 
(EC Treaty, Art. 48 (now, after amendment, Art. 39 EC)) 
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SUMMARY — CASE C-411/98 
2. Community law — Principles — Equal treatment — Discrimination on grounds of 
nationality — Higher scales of fees for medical and hospital care for persons not 
affiliated to the national social security scheme of a Member State, such as officials — 
Prohibition in the absence of objective justification 
(EC Treaty, Art. 6, first para. (now, after amendment, Art. 12 EC, first para.)) 
1. A national of one Member State work­
ing in another Member State does not 
lose his status of worker within the 
meaning of Article 48(1) of the Treaty 
(now, after amendment, Article 39(1) 
EC) through occupying a post within 
an international organisation, even if 
the rules relating to entry into and 
residence in the country in which he is 
employed are specifically governed by 
an international agreement. Accord­
ingly, there can be no doubt that an 
EC official has the status of a migrant 
worker. 
(see para. 42) 
2. The first paragraph of Article 6 of the 
Treaty (now, after amendment, the first 
paragraph of Article 12 EC) also 
applies in cases where a group or 
organisation such as the Entente des 
hôpitaux luxembourgeois exercises a 
certain power over individuals and is in 
a position to impose on them condi­
tions which adversely affect the exer­
cise of the fundamental freedoms guar­
anteed under the Treaty. 
The application, on a unilateral basis, 
by a group of healthcare providers of a 
Member State to EC officials of scales 
of fees for medical and hospital mater­
nity care which are higher than those 
applicable to residents affiliated to the 
national social security scheme of that 
State constitutes discrimination on the 
ground of nationality prohibited under 
the first paragraph of Article 6 of the 
EC Treaty, in the absence of objective 
justification in this respect. 
The criterion of affiliation to the 
national social security scheme, on 
which the differentiation of fees for 
medical and hospital care is based, 
constitutes indirect discrimination on 
the ground of nationality. First, the 
great majority of those affiliated to the 
Sickness Insurance Scheme common to 
the institutions of the European Com-
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FERLINI 
munities and not to the national social 
security scheme, although in receipt of 
medical and hospital care given in 
Luxembourg, are nationals of other 
Member States. Second, the over­
whelming majority of nationals resid­
ing in Luxembourg are covered by the 
national social security scheme. 
(see paras 50, 58, 62 and operative part) 
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