X v Staatssecretaris van Financiën.
Date: 2017-09-13
15


In that regard, it should be noted that the provisions of Title II of Regulation No 1408/71, which includes Article 14(2), constitute, according to the settled case-law of the Court, a complete and uniform system of conflict rules, the aim of which is to ensure that workers moving within the Union are subject to the social security scheme of only one Member State, in order to prevent the national legislation of more than one Member State from being applicable and to avoid the attendant complications of such a situation (judgment of 4 October 2012, Format Urządzenia i Montaże Przemysłowe, C‑115/11, EU:C:2012:606, paragraph 29 and the case-law cited).
16


To that end, Article 13(2)(a) of Regulation No 1408/71 establishes the principle that a person employed in the territory of one Member State is to be subject to the legislation of that State, even if he resides in the territory of another Member State (see, to that effect, judgment of 4 October 2012, Format Urządzenia i Montaże Przemysłowe, C‑115/11, EU:C:2012:606, paragraph 30).
17


Nevertheless, that principle is stated to be ‘subject to Articles 14 to 17’ of Regulation No 1408/71. In certain specific situations the unrestricted application of the rule set out in Article 13(2)(a) of that regulation might in fact create, instead of prevent, administrative complications for workers as well as for employers and social security authorities, which would place obstacles in the way of the freedom of movement of the persons covered by that regulation (judgment of 4 October 2012, Format Urządzenia i Montaże Przemysłowe, C‑115/11, EU:C:2012:606, paragraph 31).
21


In that regard, it should be pointed out that the Court has held, in relation to the suspension of an employment relationship during parental leave, that a person has the status of a ‘worker’ within the meaning of Regulation No 1408/71 where he is covered, even if only in respect of a single risk, on a compulsory or optional basis, by a general or special social security scheme mentioned in Article 1(a) of that regulation, irrespective of the existence of an employment relationship (judgment of 7 June 2005, Dodl and Oberhollenzer, C‑543/03, EU:C:2005:364, paragraph 34).
22


Moreover, it follows from the case-law of the Court that even though the provisions of Title II of Regulation No 1408/71, unlike those in Title I, refer to ‘persons who are employed’ (or ‘engaged in paid employment’) (‘personnes qui exercent une activité salariée’) or who are ‘self-employed’ (‘personnes qui exercent une activité non-salariée’) rather than to ‘employed’ or ‘self-employed persons’ (‘travailleurs salariés’/‘non-salariés’), a logical and consistent interpretation of the scope ratione personae of the regulation and of the system of rules of conflict of laws which it establishes requires the terms in question of Title II to be interpreted in the light of the definitions in Article 1(a) of the regulation (see, to that effect, judgments of 30 January 1997, de Jaeck, C‑340/94, EU:C:1997:43, paragraph 22, and 30 January 1997, Hervein and Hervillier, C‑221/95, EU:C:1997:47, paragraph 20).
23


Accordingly, just as the description ‘employed person’ or ‘self-employed person’ for the purposes of Regulation No 1408/71 depends on the national social security scheme under which the person is insured, ‘a person who is employed’ (or ‘engaged in paid employment’) and ‘a person who is self-employed’ for the purposes of Title II of Regulation No 1408/71 should be understood to refer to activities deemed such by the legislation applicable in the field of social security in the Member State in whose territory those activities are pursued (see, to that effect, judgments of 30 January 1997, de Jaeck, C‑340/94, EU:C:1997:43, paragraph 23, and 30 January 1997, Hervein and Hervillier, C‑221/95, EU:C:1997:47, paragraph 21).