Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:1997:546
Date: 1997-11-13
Language of the case: French
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: External relations;Social security for migrant workers
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Belgium

Summary of the Judgment
1. International agreements — Community agreements — Direct effect — Article 39(1) of the
EEC-Algeria Cooperation Agreement
(EEC-Algeria Cooperation Agreement, Art. 39(1))
2. International agreements — EEC-Algeria Cooperation Agreement — Algerian workers
employed in a Member State — Social security — Equal treatment — Refusal, on grounds of
nationality, to grant disability allowance to the spouse of a retired Algerian worker residing
with him in the Member State concerned — Not permissible
(EEC-Algeria Cooperation Agreement, Art. 39(1))
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SUMMARY — CASE C-113/97
1. Article 39(1) of the Cooperation Agree­
ment between the EEC and Algeria,
which lays down in clear, precise and
unconditional terms a prohibition of dis­
crimination, based on nationality, against
workers of Algerian nationality and the
members of their families living with
them in the field of social security, con­
tains a clear and precise obligation which
is not subject, in its implementation or
effects, to the adoption of any subsequent
measure.
It follows from the wording of that pro­
vision, and from the purpose and nature
of the agreement in which it features, that
it is capable of being directly applied,
with the result that individuals to whom
it applies are entitled to rely on it in pro­
ceedings before national courts.
2. Article 39(1) of the Cooperation Agree­
ment between the EEC and Algeria must
be interpreted as precluding a Member
State from refusing to grant a benefit,
such as disability allowance, provided for
under its legislation in favour of nationals
resident in that State and irrespective of
whether they have been working in an
employed capacity, to the disabled spouse
of a retired Algerian worker who lives
with her husband in the Member State in
question on the ground that she is of
Algerian nationality and has never been
engaged in a trade or profession.
The persons covered by the above provi­
sion include not only the Algerian
worker but also members of his family
living with him in the Member State in
which that worker receives an old-age
pension after having worked there, and it
is not appropriate to draw a distinction,
in regard to those family members,
between derived rights and personal
rights, while the matters covered by that
provision include all those benefits to
which, by virtue of Article 4, Regulation
No 1408/71 applies.
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