Judgment — ECLI:EU:C:2016:802
Date: 2016-10-26
Language of the case: Dutch
Court formation: Tenth Chamber
Subject matter: Social security for migrant workers
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Belgium

Summary — Judgment of the Court (Tenth Chamber), 26 October 2016 1. Questions referred for a preliminary ruling — Admissibility — Conditions — Questions related to the actual facts of the main action or its purpose — Request providing the Court with sufficient detail as to the factual or legal context (Art. 267 TFEU) 2. Social security — Migrant workers — EU rules — Material scope — Social contributions levied on supplementary pensions — Included — Legislation applicable — Principle that the legislation of a single Member State only is to apply — National legislation providing for the levy of such contributions — Insured person residing in another Member State and subject to its social security legislation — Unlawful (Council Regulation No 1408/71, Arts 4, 13, (1) and (2), 14 to 17, 27, 28, 28a and 33) 1. See the text of the decision. (see paras 19-22) 2. Article 13(1) of Regulation No 1408/71 on the application of social security schemes to employed persons, to self-employed persons and to members of their families moving within the Community, as amended and updated by Regulation No 118/97, as amended by Regulation No 1606/98, precludes a national law which imposes levies of contributions that have a direct and sufficiently relevant link with the legislation governing the branches of social security listed in Article 4 of Regulation 1408/71, as amended, on payments made under supplementary pension schemes even though the beneficiary of that supplementary pension scheme does not reside in that Member State and is subject, in accordance with Article 13(2)(f) of that regulation, as amended, to the social security legislation of the Member State in which he resides. The levies imposed on supplementary pension schemes fall within the material scope of the regulation since the proceeds of those contributions are allocated specifically and directly to the financing of certain branches of social security in the Member State. That interpretation is also borne out by the objective pursued by Regulation No 1408/71 and by the principles on which that regulation is based. The completeness of that system of conflict rules has the effect of divesting the legislature of each Member State of the power to determine at its discretion the ambit and the conditions for the application of its national legislation so far as the persons who are subject thereto and the territory within which the provisions of national law take effect are concerned. That principle that the legislation of a single Member State applies in matters of social security aims to avoid the complications which may ensue from the simultaneous application of a number of national legislative systems and to eliminate the unequal treatment which, for persons moving within the European Union, would be the consequence of a partial or total overlapping of the applicable legislation. The principle, however, governs only the situations referred to in Article 13(2) and Articles 14 to 17 of Regulation No 1408/71, which determine the conflict rules that are to apply in each situation. Hence, since Regulation No 2195/91, amending Regulation No 1408/71, introduced point (f) into Article 13(2) of Regulation No 1408/71, the principle that only one legislation is to apply is also applicable to workers who have definitively ceased their professional activities. Finally, Article 33 of Regulation No 1408/71 must be read with reference to Articles 27, 28 and 28a of Section 5 of Chapter 1 of Title III of the regulation applicable to the rights of pensioners and members of their families, which cover either situations where the pensioner draws pensions under the legislation of two or more Member States or situations where he draws a pension under the legislation of a single Member State but is not entitled to benefits in his country of residence. Accordingly, it cannot be inferred from the existence of substantive rules on the rights of pensioners, which are not in any way applicable to retirement or supplementary pensions that are based on agreements, that the levy of social contributions on such supplementary pensions is compatible with the principle, laid down in Article 13(1) of Regulation No 1408/71, that only one legislation is applicable. (see paras 31, 32, 34, 36-38, 41-43, operative part)