Brennet AG v Vittorio Paletta.
Date: 1996-05-02
20 As the Commission has rightly pointed out, by laying down that the sick worker' s state of health must "necessitate immediate benefits", the provision in question requires confirmation of a pressing medical need for such benefits. That condition indisputably encompasses "benefits in kind" needed forthwith, but it further implies that, in urgent situations of that type, the worker concerned must also be entitled to any corresponding "cash benefits" which, as the Court has consistently held (Case 61/65 Vaassen-Goebbels v Beambtenfonds Mijnbedrijf [1966] ECR 261), are essentially designed to compensate for the sick worker' s loss of earnings and are therefore intended to cover his maintenance, which might otherwise be jeopardized.
24 As to whether the national courts may, where there has been an abuse by the worker concerned, query the certification of incapacity for work issued in accordance with Article 18 of Regulation No 574/72, the Court has consistently held that Community law cannot be relied on for the purposes of abuse or fraud (see, in particular, regarding freedom to provide services, Case 33/74 Van Binsbergen v Bedrijfsvereniging Metaalnijverheid [1974] ECR 1299, paragraph 13, and Case C-23/93 TV10 v Commissariaat voor de Media [1994] ECR I-4795, paragraph 21; regarding the free movement of goods, Case 229/83 Leclerc and Others v "Au Blé Vert" and Others [1985] ECR 1, paragraph 27; regarding freedom of movement for workers, Case 39/86 Lair v Universitaet Hannover [1988] ECR 3161, paragraph 43; regarding the Common Agricultural Policy, Case C-8/92 General Milk Products v Hauptzollamt Hamburg-Jonas [1993] ECR I-779, paragraph 21).
25 Although the national courts may, therefore, take account ° on the basis of objective evidence ° of abuse or fraudulent conduct on the part of the worker concerned in order, where appropriate, to deny him the benefit of the provisions of Community law on which he seeks to rely, they must nevertheless assess such conduct in the light of the objectives pursued by those provisions.
26 However, the case-law referred to by the Bundesarbeitsgericht, according to which the worker must produce additional evidence that the medically certified incapacity for work is genuine, in cases where the employer argues on the basis of adequate supporting evidence that there are serious grounds for doubting the existence of the alleged incapacity, is not compatible with the objectives pursued by Article 18 of Regulation No 574/72. A worker whose incapacity for work arises in a Member State other than the competent Member State would, as a result, be confronted with difficulties involved in obtaining evidence which the Community rules in fact seek to eliminate.
27 On the other hand, that provision does not preclude employers from adducing evidence to support, where appropriate, a finding by the national court of abuse or fraudulent conduct on the part of the worker concerned, in that, although he may claim to have become incapacitated for work, such incapacity having been certified in accordance with Article 18 of Regulation No 574/72, he was not sick at all.
28 The answer to Question 2 must therefore be that the interpretation of Article 18(1) to (5) of Regulation No 574/72 given by the Court in its judgment in Paletta, cited above, does not imply that employers are barred from adducing evidence to support, where appropriate, a finding by the national court of abuse or fraudulent conduct on the part of the worker concerned, in that, although he may claim to have become incapacitated for work, such incapacity having been certified in accordance with Article 18 of that regulation, he was not sick at all.