Case C-113/22, TGSS (Refusal of the maternity supplement): Judgment of the Court (Second Chamber) of 14 September 2023 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Galicia — Spain) — DX v Instituto Nacional de la Seguridad Social (INSS), Tesorería General de la Seguridad Social (TGSS) (Reference for a preliminary ruling — Social policy — Directive 79/7/EEC — Equal treatment for men and women in matters of social security — Article 6 — National legislation providing for the right to a pension supplement only for women — Preliminary ruling from the Court from which it may be held that that legislation constitutes direct discrimination on grounds of sex — Administrative practice of continuing to apply that legislation despite that ruling — Separate discrimination — Pecuniary damages — Reimbursement of expenditure relating to costs and lawyers’ fees)
Date: 2023-09-14
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: damages, equal treatment, gender equality, sexual discrimination, social security legislation, social-security benefit








C_202300489EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
Series C













C/2023/489


6.11.2023





Judgment of the Court (Second Chamber) of 14 September 2023 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Galicia — Spain) — DX v Instituto Nacional de la Seguridad Social (INSS), Tesorería General de la Seguridad Social (TGSS)
(Case C-113/22, (1) TGSS (Refusal of the maternity supplement))
(Reference for a preliminary ruling - Social policy - Directive 79/7/EEC - Equal treatment for men and women in matters of social security - Article 6 - National legislation providing for the right to a pension supplement only for women - Preliminary ruling from the Court from which it may be held that that legislation constitutes direct discrimination on grounds of sex - Administrative practice of continuing to apply that legislation despite that ruling - Separate discrimination - Pecuniary damages - Reimbursement of expenditure relating to costs and lawyers’ fees)
(C/2023/489)
Language of the case: Spanish

Referring court

Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Galicia

Parties to the main proceedings


Applicant: DX

Defendants: Instituto Nacional de la Seguridad Social (INSS), Tesorería General de la Seguridad Social (TGSS)

Operative part of the judgment

Council Directive 79/7/EEC of 19 December 1978 on the progressive implementation of the principle of equal treatment for men and women in matters of social security, in particular Article 6 thereof,
must be interpreted as meaning that where an application for the grant of a pension supplement submitted by a male scheme member has been rejected by the competent authority, under national legislation limiting the grant of that supplement to female scheme members only, whereas that legislation constitutes direct discrimination on grounds of sex, within the meaning of Directive 79/7, as interpreted by the Court of Justice in a preliminary ruling delivered prior to the decision rejecting such an application, the national court hearing an action against that decision must instruct that authority not only to grant the pension supplement claimed to the person concerned, but also to pay him compensation enabling the loss and damage actually sustained by him as a result of the discrimination to be made good in full, in accordance with the applicable national rules, including costs and lawyers’ fees which he has incurred in court, where that rejection decision was adopted in accordance with an administrative practice of continuing to apply the aforementioned legislation despite that preliminary ruling, thereby obliging the person concerned to assert in court his right to that supplement.


(1)  
            OJ C 244, 27.6.2022.


ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2023/489/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)