Proceedings brought by C.
Date: 2016-06-02
19


It must be recalled from the outset that, according to settled case-law, it is apparent both from its title and preamble and from its content and purpose that Directive 2000/78 is intended to lay down a general framework in order to guarantee equal treatment ‘in employment and occupation’ to all persons, by offering them effective protection against discrimination on any of the grounds mentioned in Article 1, which include age (judgment of 26 September 2013 in Dansk Jurist- og Økonomforbund, C‑546/11, EU:C:2013:603, paragraph 23 and the case-law cited).
20


The scope of Directive 2000/78 must be understood, in the light of Article 3(1)(c) and (3), read in conjunction with recital 13 thereof, as excluding social security or social protection schemes, the benefits of which are not equivalent to ‘pay’ within the meaning given to that term for the application of Article 157(2) TFEU (judgment of 21 January 2015 in Felber, C‑529/13, EU:C:2015:20, paragraph 20 and the case-law cited).
21


It is true that the concept of ‘pay’ within the meaning of Article 3(1)(c) of Directive 2000/78 must be interpreted broadly. Thus, the Court has held that it covers, in particular, any consideration, whether in cash or in kind, whether immediate or future, provided that the employee receives it, albeit indirectly, in respect of his or her employment from his or her employer, and irrespective of whether it is received under a contract of employment, by virtue of legislative provisions or on a voluntary basis (judgment of 12 December 2013 in Hay, C‑267/12, EU:C:2013:823, paragraph 28 and the case-law cited). Moreover, the fact that certain benefits are paid after the termination of the employment relationship does not prevent them from being in the nature of pay within the meaning of the abovementioned provisions (judgment of 9 December 2004 in Hlozek, C‑19/02, EU:C:2004:779, paragraph 35 and the case-law cited).
22


The Court has also stated that consideration classified as pay specifically includes consideration paid by the employer under a contract of employment whose purpose is to ensure that workers receive income even where, in certain cases specified by the legislature, they are not performing any work provided for in their contracts of employment. Moreover, the fact that such benefits are in the nature of pay cannot be called in question merely because they can also be regarded as reflecting considerations of social policy (judgment of 9 December 2004 in Hlozek, C‑19/02, EU:C:2004:779, paragraph 39 and the case-law cited).
23


Thus, the Court has ruled that benefits granted under a pension scheme which essentially relates to the employment of the person concerned form part of the pay received by that person and come within the scope of Article 157(2) TFEU (judgment of 7 January 2004 in K.B., C‑117/01, EU:C:2004:7, paragraph 25 and the case-law cited).
25


First of all, it must be observed that the dispute in the main proceedings does not concern the procedure or the conditions for determining the amount of the benefits paid to the worker by reason of the employment relationship between him and his former employer (judgment of 1 April 2008 in Maruko, C‑267/06, EU:C:2008:179, paragraph 46), but on the rate of tax on retirement pension income. Such taxation is external to the employment relationship and, therefore, to the determination, in that context, with which Directive 2000/78 is solely concerned, of ‘pay’ within the meaning of that directive and Article 157(2) TFEU.