Rose Hughes v Chief Adjudication Officer, Belfast.
Date: 1992-07-16
14 The Court has repeatedly held that the distinction between benefits excluded from the scope of Regulation No 1408/71 and those which fall within its scope is based essentially on the constituent elements of the particular benefit, in particular its purposes and the conditions on which it is granted, and not on whether a benefit is classified as a social security benefit by national legislation.
15 Moreover, the Court has consistently stated that a benefit may be regarded as a social security benefit in so far as it is granted, without any individual and discretionary assessment of personal needs, to recipients on the basis of a legally defined position and provided that it concerns one of the risks expressly listed in Article 4(1) of Regulation No 1408/71 (see in particular Case C-356/89 Newton [1991] ECR I-3017; Joined Cases 379/85 to 381/85 and 93/86 Giletti [1987] ECR 955, paragraph 11; and Case 249/83 Hoeckx [1985] ECR 973, paragraphs 12 to 14).
17 Whilst it is true that a benefit such as family credit is granted or refused solely on the basis of the claimant' s assets, income, and the number and age of his dependent children, it does not follow that the grant of the benefit is dependent on an individual assessment of the claimant' s personal needs, which is a characteristic feature of social assistance (see Case 187/73 Callemeyn [1974] ECR 553, paragraphs 7 and 8). The criteria applied are objective, legally defined criteria which, if met, confer entitlement to the benefit, the competent authority having no power to take account of other personal circumstances.
19 It appears from the documents before the Court that family credit in fact performs a dual function: first, as the United Kingdom Government has stated, it encourages workers who are poorly paid to continue working; and secondly, it is intended to meet family expenses, as is clear in particular from the fact that it is paid only where the claimant' s family includes one or more children and from the fact that the amount of the benefit varies according to the age of the children.
21 Contrary to the view expressed by the United Kingdom and German Governments, the fact that the grant of the benefit is not subject to any contribution requirement does not affect its classification as a social security benefit. The method by which a benefit is financed is immaterial for the purposes of its classification as a social security benefit, as is clear from the fact that under Article 4(2) of Regulation No 1408/71 non-contributory benefits are not excluded from the scope of the regulation.
22 Consequently, the reply to be given to the first question is that a benefit which is granted automatically to families meeting certain objective criteria, relating in particular to their size, income and capital resources, must be considered a family benefit for the purposes of Article 4(1)(h) of Regulation No 1408/71.
The second question
26 It follows that the spouse of an employed person can claim a derived right to family benefits under Article 73 of Regulation No 1408/71 provided that he or she is a member of the family of a worker who fulfils the conditions laid down in Article 73 and provided also that under national legislation the family benefits concerned are provided for family members.
28 It follows from the foregoing that the reply to be given to the second question is that, where an employed person is subject to the legislation of a Member State and lives with his family in another Member State, his spouse who has never been resident or employed in the State where the worker is employed may rely on Article 73 of Regulation No 1408/71 in order to claim a derived right to receive family benefits for the members of the worker' s family from the competent institution of that State, provided that the worker fulfils the conditions laid down in Article 73 and provided also that under national legislation the family benefits concerned are provided for family members.
The third, fourth and fifth questions