WRITTEN QUESTION E-1376/00 by Giles Chichester (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Payment of a pension to an EU national moving to Australia.
Date: 2000-05-04
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: European social policy, Netherlands, United Kingdom, competence of the Member States, pension scheme

C 46 E/182

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

13.2.2001

It seems strange that the press should be acquainted with internal Commission reports to which MEPs are
denied access, but it is even stranger that the substance of a report which endorses the ATCs cannot be
contradicted even though, if the report reaches such a conclusion, it must contain obvious errors.

Can the Commission forward to Parliament the report which is already available to the press?

Is this an example of the Commission(cid:146)s commitment to transparency?

Answer given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission

(26 May 2000)

With regard to the information which appeared in the Spanish press on 17 April, the Commission(cid:146)s
Spokesman(cid:146)s Service has already stated that it is far too early to comment on the possibility of a positive
decision on the costs of
transition to competition in the Spanish electricity sector. The supposed
Commission report to which the newspaper article refers is in fact an internal note by the Directorate-
General for Competition which was drawn up as a basis for discussion within the DG but has not been the
subject of any official decision. The Commission regrets that the contents of the note were leaked, but it is
not responsible for any conclusions reached by the press as to the Commission(cid:146)s final decision on the
matter. In any case, the document has nothing to do with the report submitted by an independent expert
asked by the Commission to verify certain assumptions made by the Spanish authorities regarding
calculation of the costs of transition to competition. This report contains confidential information and is
covered by the rules on business secrecy. For this reason, the Commission considers that it should not be
made available.

(2001/C 46 E/213)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1376/00

by Giles Chichester (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(4 May 2000)

Subject: Payment of a pension to an EU national moving to Australia

A Dutch citizen by birth moved to England, married and took up British nationality in 1954. Now, in her
70s and divorced, she wishes to move to Australia to live with her children. Her UK pension will be frozen
at the rate when she leaves the UK but will continue to be paid. However, the small pension to which she
is currently entitled from Holland will cease should she move out of the EU to Australia.

An unsatisfactory explanation is that the Dutch old age pension started in 1957, which was after the date
when this lady left the Netherlands, and therefore she does not qualify for her pension under Dutch law
but only under European law.

Is this not a case of discrimination on the grounds of nationality? Does the Commission agree that EU
pension rights should be equally applicable to all our citizens everywhere?

Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(5 June 2000)

The Honourable Member raises a question concerning the payment of an old-age pension under the
legislation of the Netherlands to a former Dutch national who acquired British nationality and now intends
to take up residence in Australia.

Under Community law there is no unified European social security system. Each Member State is
responsible for its own social security system and decides which benefits shall be provided, the conditions
for eligibility and the value of these benefits.

13.2.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 46 E/183

There are, however, Community provisions for the co-ordination of these systems in Council Regulation
(EEC) No 1408/71 of the Council of 14 June 1971 on the application of social security schemes to
employed persons and their families moving within the Community (1), and Regulation (EEC) No 574/72
of the Council of 21 March 1972 fixing the procedure for implementing Regulation (EEC) No 1408/71 on
the application of social security schemes to employed persons and their families moving within the
Community (2), in order to ensure that migrant workers and members of their families do not lose their
social security protection when they move within the Community.

Therefore, the export of benefits to persons who are not resident within the Union does not fall under the
scope of these regulations.

The question raised by the Honourable Member is a matter to be dealt with solely under Dutch national
legislation.

(1) OJ L 149, 5.7.1971.
(2) OJ L 74, 27.3.1972 as last consolidated version: Council Regulation (EC) No 118/97 of 2 December 1996 (cid:129) OJ L

28, 30.1.1997.

(2001/C 46 E/214)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1382/00

by Michl Ebner (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(4 May 2000)

Subject: Positive discrimination in favour of women as a means of promoting equality

Positive discrimination must be used in order to increase the representation of women in all sectors of
society. Measures of this kind have proved successful in various countries such as Sweden where the
principle of the preferential treatment of women in the case of persons with the same qualifications has
been applied in the public sector. However there seems to be some difference of opinion about initiatives
of this kind at European level, as the European Court of Justice(cid:146)s Kalanke judgment shows: the Land of
Bremen was found to be in breach of EU law because it gave preference to a woman in a case where a
man and a woman were equally well qualified. Furthermore, the Treaty of Amsterdam avoids mentioning
positive discrimination as such: Article 141 merely refers to specific advantages in the framework of the
equality of women and men.

Will the Commission say whether it intends in future to make positive discrimination in favour of women
a general principle underpinning all policies?

Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(3 July 2000)

Article 2 of the EC Treaty states that one of the tasks of the Community shall be the promotion of equality
between men and women, while Article 3(2) states that the Community shall aim to eliminate inequalities,
and promote equality, between men and women in all the activities of the Community listed in Article 3(1).

The principle of gender mainstreaming, which may include positive action if policy analysis deems it
necessary, has been adopted as a means of analysing all Community policies with regard to their effect on
equality of the sexes.

A Group of Members of the Commission on equal opportunities monitors Community policies with regard
to their gender impact, and the fifth action programme on gender equality adopted by the Commission on
7 June 2000 proposes to deepen this approach (1).