Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:2009:280
Date: 2009-04-30
Language of the case: German
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Principles, objectives and tasks of the Treaties;Anti-discrimination;Non-discrimination on grounds of nationality
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Austria

Summary of the Judgment Community law – Principles – Equal treatment – Discrimination on grounds of nationality – Prohibition (Art. 12 EC) Article 12 EC must be interpreted as meaning that it does not preclude a national rule which restricts the issue of an annual toll disc free of charge to those disabled persons who are resident or ordinarily resident in the territory of the Member State concerned, including also those persons who regularly travel to that State for professional or personal reasons. In that regard, both the promotion of mobility and integration of disabled persons and the wish to ensure that there is a connection between the society of the Member State concerned and the recipient of the benefit at issue can constitute objective considerations of public interest which are capable of justifying the fact that the conditions for the grant of the benefit may affect the freedom of movement of the citizens of the Union. With regard to that measure, intended to facilitate regular journeys in national territory by disabled persons with a view to their integration in national society, the place of residence or of ordinary residence then appears to be a criterion suitable to establish the existence of a connection between those persons and the society of the Member State concerned such as, in particular, to distinguish them from other categories of users likely to use the road network of that Member State only occasionally or temporarily. As regards the proportionality of the conditions of residence and ordinary residence to the objectives pursued by the national rule at issue, those conditions are in addition interpreted widely, so that other connecting factors allow a sufficiently close connection to national society to be established for the purposes of grant of the free toll disc. In those circumstances, such a national rule does not go beyond what is necessary to achieve the objectives which it pursues. (see paras 32, 36, 38, 40-41, operative part)