Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:1997:227
Date: 1997-05-06
Language of the case: English
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Social security for migrant workers
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: United Kingdom

Summary of the Judgmen t 
1. Social security for migrant workers — Special non-contributory benefits — System of coordi­
nation provided for under Article 10a of ReguUtion No 1408/71 — Scope — Non-
contributory and non-means tested disability benefit — Benefit mentioned in Annex IIa to 
ReguLtion No 1408/71 — Included 
(Council ReguUtion No 1408/71, Arts 4(2a) and 10a and Annex Ha, Section L(f), and Coun­
cil ReguLtion No 1247/92) 
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SUMMARY — CASE C-20/96 
2. Social security for migrant workers — Special non-contributory benefits — System of coordi­
nation provided for under Article 10a of ReguUtion No 1408/71 — Award of benefits in 
accordance with the legislation of the State of residence — Breach of Article 51 of the Treaty 
by reason of the non-application of the principle of waiver of residence cUuses — No breach 
(EC Treaty, Art. 51; Council ReguLtions No 1408/71, Arts 10 and 10a, and No 1247/92) 
1. On a proper construction of Article 10a 
of Regulation N o 1408/71, as amended 
and updated by Regulation N o 2001/83, 
as subsequently amended by Regulation 
N o 1247/92, read in conjunction with 
Annex Ila, a non-contributory and non-
means tested benefit for disabled persons 
which is mentioned in Annex IIa, such as 
disability living allowance in the United 
Kingdom, falls within the scope of that 
provision and is therefore a special non-
contributory benefit within the meaning 
of Article 4(2a) of that regulation, with 
the result that the position of a person 
who, after 1 June 1992 when Reguladon 
N o 1247/92 entered into force, satisfied 
the conditions for the award of that ben­
efit is governed exclusively by the system 
of coordination established by the said 
Article 10a. 
2. Regulation N o 1247/92 amending Regu­
lation No 1408/71 and adding Article 10a 
thereto is not contrary to Article 51 of 
the Treaty in so far as it sets aside, in the 
case of the special non-contributory ben­
efits to which it refers, the principle of 
waiver of residence clauses laid down in 
Article 10 of Regulation N o 1408/71. The 
very purpose of the coordination rules 
governing special non-contributory ben­
efits established by Article 10a is to pro­
tect the interests of migrant workers in 
accordance with the provisions of Article 
51 of the Treaty, and that article does not 
prohibit the Community legislature from 
imposing limits on the advantages which 
it confers on workers. 
The possibility that the recipient of a dis­
ability allowance with the characteristics 
of a non-contributory benefit, having 
established his residence in another Mem­
ber State, might not satisfy the conditions 
applied by his new State of residence to 
the award of invalidity benefit or might 
receive a lower benefit there than that 
which he hitherto received in another 
Member State is irrelevant in regard to 
the validity of the system established by 
Article 10a, since, in the absence of har­
monization in social security matters, the 
Member States remain competent to 
define the conditions for granting social 
security benefits, even if they make them 
more strict, provided that the conditions 
adopted do not give rise to overt or dis­
guised discrimination between Commu­
nity workers. 
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