R. L. Aldewereld v Staatssecretaris van Financiën.
Date: 1994-06-29
10 Since it is agreed that a person in Mr Aldewereld' s situation falls within the scope ratione personae of the regulation, as defined in Article 2 thereof, the rule in Article 13(1), cited above, that the legislation of a single Member State is to apply is in principle applicable and the national legislation applicable is determined in accordance with the provisions of Title II of that regulation.
11 However, none of the provisions of that title relates directly to the situation of a worker who, like Mr Aldewereld, is employed by an undertaking in the Community but works wholly outside the Community.
14 It follows from the case-law of the Court (see to that effect, in particular, the judgment in Case 237/83 Prodest v Caisse Primaire d' Assurance Maladie de Paris [1984] ECR 3153, paragraph 6) that the mere fact that the activities are carried out outside the Community is not sufficient to exclude the application of the Community rules on the free movement of workers, as long as the employment relationship retains a sufficiently close link with the Community. In a case such as this, a link of that kind can be found in the fact that the Community worker was employed by an undertaking from another Member State and, for that reason, was insured under the social security scheme of that State.
20 Except in those special cases, the applicable legislation is derived objectively from the provisions of Title II of the regulation, taking into account the factors connecting the particular situation with the legislation of the Member States.
21 In a situation such as that in the main proceedings, the only factors connected with the legislation of a Member State are, on the one hand, the worker' s residence and, on the other hand, the place where his employer is established. The choice of criterion to determine the legislation applicable to that situation must therefore be made from those factors.
22 As the Italian Government correctly pointed out, according to the scheme of the regulation, the application of the legislation of the Member State in which the worker resides appears to be an ancillary rule which applies only where that legislation has a link with the employment relationship. Accordingly, when the worker does not reside in any of the Member States where he works, it is normally the legislation of the Member State where his employer has its registered office or place of business.
26 Accordingly, it should be stated in reply to the question from the national court that the rules of Community law which are designed to achieve freedom of movement for workers within the Community, and in particular the rules on determining the national legislation applicable set out in Title II of Regulation No 1408/71, preclude the collection of contributions under the social legislation of the State of residence from a person who resides in one Member State and, in the employment of an undertaking established in another Member State, works exclusively outside the Member States, on the basis of which employment he is liable to pay contributions under the social legislation of the other Member State.