Judgment — ECLI:EU:C:2016:220
Date: 2016-04-07
Language of the case: French
Court formation: Sixth Chamber
Subject matter: Social security for migrant workers;Free movement of workers;Fundamental rights;Charter of Fundamental Rights
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Belgium

Summary — Judgment of the Court (Sixth Chamber), 7 April 2016 1. Social security — Migrant workers — Equal treatment — Not applicable to unemployment benefits governed by the special provisions of Regulation No 1408/71 (Council Regulation No 1408/71, Arts 3 and 67) 2. Social security — Migrant workers — Unemployment — Aggregation of periods of insurance or employment — Taking account of periods of insurance or employment completed under the legislation of another Member State — Conditions — Completion lastly of periods of insurance or employment in the Member State where the unemployment benefits are claimed — Refusal to aggregate periods of employment necessary to qualify for unemployment benefit to supplement income from part-time employment in the absence of a period of insurance or of employment in that Member State — Lawfulness (Council Regulation No 1408/71, Art. 67(3)) 3. Social security — Migrant workers — Unemployment — Aggregation of periods of insurance or employment — Validity of Article 67(3) of Regulation No 1408/71 in view of the free movement of workers and the freedom to work (Arts 45 TFEU and 48 TFEU; Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 15(2); Council Regulation No 1408/71, Art. 67(3)) 1. See the text of the decision. (see para. 28) 2. Article 67(3) 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, in the version amended and updated by Regulation No 118/97, as amended by Regulation No 592/2008, must be interpreted as not precluding a Member State from refusing to aggregate periods of employment necessary to qualify for unemployment benefit to supplement income from part-time employment, where that employment was not preceded by any period of insurance or of employment in that Member State. (see para. 29, operative part 1) 3. There is no factor of such a kind as to affect the validity of Article 67(3) of Regulation No 1408/71 on the application of social security schemes to employed persons, to self-employed persons and to their families moving within the Community, in the version amended and updated by Regulation No 118/97, as last amended by Regulation No 592/2008. In that respect, in the first place, Article 48 TFEU does not prohibit the EU legislature from attaching conditions to the rights and advantages which it accords in order to ensure the freedom of movement for workers enshrined in Article 45 TFEU or from determining the limits thereto and, in the second place, the Council made proper use of its discretion in attaching such conditions, inter alia, to Article 67(3) of Regulation No 1408/71, which is designed to encourage unemployed persons to seek work in the Member State where they last paid unemployment insurance contributions, and to make that State bear the burden of providing the unemployment benefits. In addition, Article 52(2) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union provides that rights recognised by the Charter for which provision is made in the Treaties are to be exercised under the conditions and within the limits defined by those Treaties. In that vein, Article 15(2) of the Charter reiterates inter alia the free movement of workers guaranteed by Article 45 TFEU, as confirmed by the explanations relating to that provision. (see paras 31, 33, 35, operative part 2)