Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:2000:161
Date: 2000-03-23
Language of the case: German
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Social security for migrant workers
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Germany

Summary of the Judgment 
1. Social security for migrant workers — Community rules — Substantive scope — 
Allowance paid to recipients of a pension to subsidise contributions to a sickness 
insurance scheme — included 
(Council Regulation No 1408/71, Art. 1(t)) 
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SUMMARY — CASE C-73/99 
2. Social security for migrant workers — Benefits — Residence clauses — Removal — 
Application to allowances paid to recipients of a pension to subsidise contributions to a 
sickness insurance scheme 
(Regulation No 1408/71 of the Council, Art. 1(t) and Art. 10(1)) 
1. An allowance provided for by the 
legislation of a Member State, which 
is paid by the pension insurance insti­
tution and is designed to supplement 
old-age pension benefits by subsidising 
the contributions payable in respect of 
sickness insurance for the purpose of 
reducing their cost to the pensioner, is a 
benefit within the meaning of Artic­
le 1(t) of Regulation No 1408/71, as 
amended and updated by Regulation 
No 118/97. The fact that the payments 
are made directly to the sickness insur­
ance institution rather than to the 
recipient of the pension who is com-
pulsorily affiliated to the sickness insur­
ance scheme concerned does not affect 
the determining factor that these pay­
ments are made for the benefit of the 
pensioner and that their effect is to 
increase the value of his pension in 
order to offset the cost to him of paying 
his contributions. 
(see paras 40, 43) 
2. On a proper construction of Artic­
le 1(t) and Article 10(1) of Regulation 
No 1408/71, as amended and updated 
by Regulation No 118/97, an allow­
ance provided for by the legislation of a 
Member State, which is designed to 
supplement old-age pension benefits by 
subsidising the contributions payable 
in respect of sickness insurance for the 
purpose of reducing their cost to the 
pensioner, in so far as it takes the form 
of an increase in the value of the 
pension, constitutes an old-age cash 
benefit for the purposes of those provi­
sions. The recipient of an old-age 
pension payable under that legislation 
may claim such a subsidy even if he is 
resident in another Member State 
where he is compulsorily affiliated to 
the sickness insurance scheme. 
(see paras 40, 44, 52 and operative part) 
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