Case C-428/06: Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Tribunal Superior de Justicia de la Comunidad Autónoma del País Vasco (Spain) lodged on 18 October 2006 — Unión General de Trabajadores de la Rioja UGT-RIOJA v Juntas Generales del Territorio Histórico de Vizcaya, Diputación Foral de Vizcaya, Cámara de Comercio, Industria y Navegación de Bilbao, Confederación Empresarial Vasca
Date: 2006-12-30
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: State aid, competition, corporation tax, interpretation of the law, tax law, tax relief, tax system

C 326/30

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

30.12.2006

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicant: Birgit Bartsch

Defendants: Bosch und Siemens Hausgeräte (BSH) Altersfürsorge
GmbH

Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Tribunal
Superior de Justicia de la Comunidad Autónoma del País
Vasco (Spain)
lodged on 18 October 2006 — Unión
General de Trabajadores de la Rioja UGT-RIOJA v Juntas
Generales del Territorio Histórico de Vizcaya, Diputación
Foral de Vizcaya, Cámara de Comercio, Industria y Navega-
ción de Bilbao, Confederación Empresarial Vasca

Questions referred

1. a) Does the primary legislation of the European Commu-
nities contain a prohibition of discrimination on grounds
of age the protection by which must be guaranteed by the
Member States even if the possibly discriminatory treat-
ment is not connected to Community law?

b) In the event that question a) is answered in the negative:

Does such a connection to Community law arise from
Article 13 EC or — even before the time-limit for trans-
position has
expired — from Council Directive
2000/78/EC of 27 November 2000 establishing a general
framework for equal treatment in employment and occu-
pation (1)?

2. Is any prohibition of discrimination on grounds of age
arising from the answer
to question 1 also applicable
between private employers on the one hand and their
employees or pensioners and their survivors on the other
hand?

(Case C-428/06)

(2006/C 326/62)

Language of the case: Spanish

Referring court

Tribunal Superior de Justicia de la Comunidad Autónoma del
País Vasco

Parties to the main proceedings

3. If question 2 is answered in the affirmative:

Applicant: Unión General de Trabajadores de la Rioja UGT-
RIOJA

a) Is a provision of an occupational pension scheme, which
provides that a survivor's pension will not be granted to a
surviving spouse in the event that the survivor is more
than the deceased former
than 15 years younger
employee, within the scope of the prohibition of discrimi-
nation on grounds of age?

b) If question a) above is answered in the affirmative:

Defendants: Juntas Generales del Territorio Histórico de Vizcaya,
Diputación Foral de Vizcaya, Cámara de Comercio, Industria y
Navegación de Bilbao, Confederación Empresarial Vasca

Can such a provision be justified by the fact that the
employer has an interest in limiting the risks arising from
the occupational pension scheme?

Question referred

c) In the event that question 3 b) is answered in the nega-

tive:

Does
the possible prohibition of discrimination on
grounds of age have unlimited retroactive effect as regards
the law relating to occupational pension schemes or is it
limited as regards the past, and if so in what way?

(1) OJ L 303, p. 16.

Must Article 87(1) EC be construed as meaning that, by
providing for a rate of tax lower than the basic rate set in
Spanish State legislation and for deductions from the amount of
tax payable which do not exist in State tax legislation, provisions
in the field of taxation adopted by the Juntas Generales del
Territorio Histórico de Bizkaia amending Articles 29(1)(a), 37
and 39 of the Provincial Law on Company Tax, which take
effect in the jurisdiction of that infra-State autonomous body,
must be regarded as selective and as covered by the definition of
State aid enshrined in Article 87(1) EC and, accordingly, must
be notified to the Commission pursuant to Article 88(3) EC?