CELEX: C2005/019/25
Language: en
Date: 2005-01-22 00:00:00
Title: Case C-466/04: Reference for a preliminary ruling by the Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Cantabria, Sala de lo Social, by decision of that court of 1 October 2004 in the case of Manuel Acereda Herrera v Servicio Cántabro de Salud

22.1.2005   
            
            
               EN
            
            
               Official Journal of the European Union
            
            
               C 19/12
            
         Reference for a preliminary ruling by the Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Cantabria, Sala de lo Social, by decision of that court of 1 October 2004 in the case of Manuel Acereda Herrera v Servicio Cántabro de Salud
   (Case C-466/04)
   (2005/C 19/25)
   Language of the case: Spanish
   Reference has been made to the Court of Justice of the European Communities by order of the Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Cantabria (High Court of Justice, Cantabria), Sala de lo Social (Social Court), received at the Court Registry on 3 November 2004, for a preliminary ruling in the case of Manuel Acereda Herrera against the Servicio Cántabro de Salud on the following questions:
   
               1.
            
            
               Must Article 22(1)(c) and (2) and Article 36 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 1408/71 of 14 June 1971, in the version arising from the consolidated text approved by Council Regulation (EC) No 118/97 (1), be interpreted as meaning that the authorisation, granted by the competent institution, to go to the territory of another Member State to receive there the appropriate medical treatment also confers on the individual concerned the right to be reimbursed, by the institution which granted the authorisation, for the costs of travel to, and stay and/or subsistence on, the territory of the Member State in question?
            
         
               2.
            
            
               In the event that the reply to the first question is in the affirmative: is there a provision or rule of Community law in accordance with which the costs to be refunded, and their amount, must be set?
            
         
               3.
            
            
               In the event that the reply to the first question is in the negative: is it compatible with the division of powers between the Member States and the institutions of the Community laid down in the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular with Article 10 EC (formerly Article 5 of the EC Treaty), and with the legal status of Community regulations laid down in Article 249 EC (formerly Article 189 of the EC Treaty), for a Member State to implement the provisions of a Community regulation by domestic law, adopting additional provisions which supplement those of the regulation and by means of which it introduces different rules for different cases which, under the regulation, are governed by the same rules, thereby impeding the exercise by individuals of certain options and rights available to them under the Community provision? Specifically, is it compatible with the Treaty establishing the European Community, and with Council Regulation (EEC) No 1408/71, for the Kingdom of Spain to maintain provisions of domestic law which confer on individuals registered with the social security scheme benefit rights additional to those referred to in Article 22 of Regulation No 1408/71 but which differentiate between the cases referred to in that regulation, with the result that the additional benefits concerned may be provided only in the case of Article 22(1)(c), notwithstanding that there appears to be no objective, proportionate and reasonable justification for such differentiation?
            
         
               4.
            
            
               In any event:
               
                           (a)
                        
                        
                           Is a rule of national law of the kind contained in Article 5.3 of Royal Decree 63/1995, which, by repealing Article 18.3 of Royal Decree 2766/1967, abolishes the right of individuals entitled to benefits under the Spanish public social security scheme to obtain reimbursement of the costs of medical treatment provided by medical establishments and practitioners established on Spanish territory where the treatment to which they are entitled is not provided to them under the public scheme within a reasonable period, taking account of their condition and the probable course of the disease, notwithstanding that the body which administers the social security scheme is required to authorise the individuals concerned to receive treatment in such cases from medical establishments and practitioners established on the territory of a Member State other than Spain, compatible with the prohibition of discrimination on grounds of nationality laid down in Article 12 EC?
                        
                     
                           (b)
                        
                        
                           Is a rule of national law of the kind contained in Article 5.3 of Royal Decree 63/1995, which, by repealing Article 18.3 of Royal Decree 2766/1967, abolishes the right of individuals entitled to benefits under the Spanish public social security scheme to obtain reimbursement of the costs of medical treatment provided by medical establishments and practitioners established on Spanish territory where the treatment to which they are entitled is not provided to them under the public scheme within a reasonable period, taking account of their condition and the probable course of the disease, notwithstanding that the body which administers the social security scheme is required to authorise the individuals concerned to receive treatment in such cases from medical establishments and practitioners established on the territory of a Member State other than Spain, compatible with the principle of freedom to provide services enshrined in Article 49 EC et seq.?
                        
                     
                           (c)
                        
                        
                           Is a rule of national law of the kind contained in Article 5.3 of Royal Decree 63/1995, which, by repealing Article 18.3 of Royal Decree 2766/1967, abolishes the right of individuals entitled to benefits under the Spanish public social security scheme to obtain reimbursement of the costs of medical treatment provided by medical establishments and practitioners established on Spanish territory where the treatment to which they are entitled is not provided to them under the public scheme within a reasonable period, taking account of their condition and the probable course of the disease, notwithstanding that the body which administers the social security scheme is required to authorise the individuals concerned to receive treatment in such cases from medical establishments and practitioners established on the territory of a Member State other than Spain, compatible with the rules on competition in Articles 81, 82 and 87 EC?
                        
                     
         
      (1)  Council Regulation (EC) No 118/97 of 2 December 1996 amending and updating Regulation (EEC) No 1408/71 on the application of social security schemes to employed persons, to self-employed persons and to members of their families moving within the Community and Regulation (EEC) No 574/72 laying down the procedure for implementing Regulation (EEC) No 1408/71 (OJ 1997 L 28, p. 1).