27 JUNE 1969 RELATING TO THE GRANT OF BENEFITS TO HANDICAPPED PERSONS, ON THE GROUNDS THAT THE PARTY INTERESTED CANNOT BY REASON OF HER NATIONALITY BENEFIT FROM THE PROVISIONS FOR EQUAL TREATMENT WITH THE STATE' S OWN NATIONALS, OTHERWISE THAN UNDER THE PROVISIONS OF THE EUROPEAN INTERIM AGREEMENT OF 11 DECEMBER 1953 ON SOCIAL SECURITY SCHEMES IN RESPECT OF OLD-AGE, INVALIDITY AND SURVIVORS, AND THAT SHE DOES NOT SATISFY THE CONDITIONS OF ARTICLE 2 OF THE SAID AGREEMENT .
3 THE FIRST QUESTION ASKS WHETHER " THE LEGISLATION ON ALLOWANCES FOR THE HANDICAPPED ( LAW OF 27 JUNE 1969 ) ( IS ) SOCIAL ASSISTANCE LEGISLATION FALLING, RATIONE MATERIAE, WITHIN THE AMBIT OF ARTICLE 2 ( 3 ) OF REGULATION NO 3 ".
4 UNDER THE TERMS OF ARTICLE 1 ( B ) THEREOF, REGULATION NO 3 APPLIES TO ALL LEGISLATION OF MEMBER STATES RELATING TO " THE SOCIAL SECURITY SCHEMES AND BRANCHES OF SOCIAL SECURITY " SET OUT IN ARTICLE 2 ( 1 ) AND ( 2 ) THEREOF .
5 UNDER THE PROVISIONS OF ARTICLE 2 ( 3 ), THE REGULATION SHALL NOT ON THE OTHER HAND APPLY TO " SOCIAL AND MEDICAL ASSISTANCE ".
6 ALTHOUGH IT MAY SEEM DESIRABLE, FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF THE APPLICATION OF THE REGULATION, TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEN LEGISLATION CONCERNING SOCIAL SECURITY AND ASSISTANCE RESPECTIVELY, THE POSSIBILITY CANNOT BE EXCLUDED THAT BY REASON OF THE PERSONS COVERED THEREBY, ITS OBJECTIVES AND ITS MANNER OF APPLICATION, A LEGISLATION MAY AT THE SAME TIME FALL WITHIN BOTH CATEGORIES, AND THUS NOT BE AMENABLE TO ANY OVERALL CLASSIFICATION .
7 WHILST IN SOME OF ITS FEATURES, LEGISLATION CONCERNING THE GRANT OF BENEFITS TO HANDICAPPED PERSONS IS AKIN TO SOCIAL ASSISTANCE, ESPECIALLY WHEN NEED IS THE ESSENTIAL CRITERION IN ITS IMPLEMENTATION AND THERE ARE NO CONDITIONS AS TO PERIODS OF EMPLOYMENT, OF MEMBERSHIP OR OF CONTRIBUTIONS, YET IT IS NEVERTHELESS CLOSE TO SOCIAL SECURITY TO THE EXTENT THAT, DEPARTING FROM THE CONSIDERATION OF EACH CASE ON ITS MERITS - A CHARACTERISTIC FEATURE OF ASSISTANCE - IT CONFERS UPON BENEFICIARIES A LEGALLY DEFINED POSITION .
8 IN VIEW OF THE WIDELY-DRAWN DEFINITION OF PEOPLE ENTITLED TO BENEFIT, SUCH A LEGISLATION FULFILS IN FACT A DOUBLE FUNCTION, WHICH IS ON THE ONE HAND TO GUARANTEE A MINIMUM INCOME TO HANDICAPPED PERSONS WHO ARE ENTIRELY OUTSIDE THE SOCIAL SECURITY SYSTEM AND, ON THE OTHER HAND, TO PROVIDE SUPPLEMENTARY MEANS TO PERSONS WHO ARE ENTIRELY OUTSIDE THE SOCIAL SECURITY SYSTEM AND, ON THE OTHER HAND, TO PROVIDE SUPPLEMENTARY MEANS TO PERSONS ENTITLED TO SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS WHO ARE PERMANENTLY INCAPACITATED FROM WORK .
9 UNDER THE PROVISIONS OF ARTICLE 2 ( 1 ) ( B ) THEREOF, REGULATION NO 3 APPLIES TO " INVALIDITY BENEFITS, INCLUDING BENEFITS GRANTED FOR THE PURPOSE OF MAINTAINING OR IMPROVING EARNING CAPACITY ".
10 UNDER ARTICLE 1 ( S ) OF THE SAME REGULATION, THE TERM BENEFITS SHALL BE INTERPRETED IN THE WIDEST POSSIBLE SENSE AS MEANING ALL BENEFITS " INCLUDING ALL FRACTIONS THEREOF