Y. M. Posthuma-van Damme v Bestuur van de Bedrijfsvereniging voor Detailhandel, Ambachten en Huisvrouwen and N. Oztürk v Bestuur van de Nieuwe Algemene Bedrijfsvereniging.
Date: 1996-02-01
16 Next it should be observed that, when the Court examined whether Community law precluded the introduction of national legislation which, by making continuance of entitlement to benefits for incapacity for work subject to a condition applicable henceforth to men and women alike, has the effect of withdrawing from women in future rights which they derive from the direct effect of Article 4(1) of Directive 79/7, it expressly reserved consideration of the question whether, as such, an income requirement of the kind at issue in the main proceedings complied with the principle of equal treatment between men and women (De Weerd, née Roks, and Others, paragraph 29 in fine).
20 As the Court further held in the judgments in Case C-317/93 Nolte [1995] ECR I-0000, paragraph 17, and Case C-444/93 Megner and Scheffel [1995] ECR I-0000, paragraph 16, it follows from that provision that the definition of the working population is very broad, since it covers any worker, including persons who are merely seeking employment, but it does not apply to persons who have never been available for employment or who have ceased to be available for a reason other than the materialization of one of the risks referred to by the directive (see also to this effect Joined Cases 48/88, 106/88 and 107/88 Achterberg-te Riele and Others v Sociale Verzekeringsbank [1989] ECR 1963, paragraph 11).
24 As the Court has consistently held, Article 4(1) of the directive precludes the application of a national measure which, although formulated in neutral terms, works to the disadvantage of far more women than men, unless that measure is based on objective factors unrelated to any discrimination on grounds of sex. That is the case where the measures chosen reflect a legitimate social policy aim of the Member State whose legislation is at issue, are appropriate to achieve that aim and are necessary in order to do so (see, most recently, the judgments in Nolte, paragraph 28, and Megner and Scheffel, paragraph 24).
26 As the Court has held in De Weerd, née Roks, and Others at paragraph 28, Directive 79/7 leaves intact the powers reserved by Articles 117 and 118 of the EC Treaty to the Member States to define their social policy within the framework of close cooperation organized by the Commission, and consequently the nature and extent of measures of social protection, including those relating to social security, and the way in which they are implemented. In exercising that competence, the Member States have a broad margin of discretion (Nolte, paragraph 33, and Megner and Scheffel, paragraph 29).
29 It appears from the case-law of the Court (De Weerd, née Roks, and Others, at paragraph 29, confirmed in Case C-137/94 Richardson [1995] ECR I-0000, paragraph 24) that Community law does not prevent Member States from taking measures which have the effect of withdrawing social security benefits from certain categories of persons, provided that those measures are compatible with the principle of equal treatment between men and women as defined in Article 4(1) of Directive 79/7. Subject to that proviso, Member States are also free to lay down, as part of their social policy, new rules which have the effect of reducing the number of persons eligible for a social security benefit.