Elide Gottardo v Istituto nazionale della previdenza sociale (INPS).
Date: 2002-01-15
21 Under Article 12 EC, the principle of non-discrimination applies [w]ithin the scope of application of this Treaty and without prejudice to any special provisions contained therein. By this latter expression, Article 12 EC refers in particular to other Treaty provisions in which the general principle which it sets out is given concrete form in respect of specific situations. Such is the case, inter alia, with regard to the provisions on the free movement of workers (see, in this connection, Case 186/87 Cowan [1989] ECR 195, paragraph 14).
The principle of equal treatment provided for by the Treaty
30 With regard to a cultural agreement concluded between two Member States which reserved entitlement to study scholarships exclusively to nationals of those two States, the Court has ruled that Article 7 of Regulation (EEC) No 1612/68 of the Council of 15 October 1968 on freedom of movement for workers within the Community (OJ, English Special Edition 1968 (II), p. 475) obliged the authorities of those two Member States to extend the benefit of the training bursaries provided for by that bilateral agreement to Community workers established within their territory (Case 235/87 Matteucci [1988] ECR 5589, paragraph 16).
32 With regard to a bilateral international treaty concluded between a Member State and a non-member country for the avoidance of double taxation, the Court has pointed out that, although direct taxation is a matter falling within the competence of the Member States alone, the latter may not disregard Community rules but must exercise their powers in a manner consistent with Community law. The Court accordingly ruled that the national treatment principle requires the Member State that is party to such a treaty to grant to permanent establishments of companies resident in another Member State the advantages provided for by the agreement on the same conditions as those which apply to companies resident in the Member State that is party to the treaty (see, in this connection, Case C-307/97 Saint-Gobain ZN [1999] ECR I-6161, paragraphs 57 to 59).
33 It follows from that case-law that, when giving effect to commitments assumed under international agreements, be it an agreement between Member States or an agreement between a Member State and one or more non-member countries, Member States are required, subject to the provisions of Article 307 EC, to comply with the obligations that Community law imposes on them. The fact that non-member countries, for their part, are not obliged to comply with any Community-law obligation is of no relevance in this respect.
36 Disturbing the balance and reciprocity of a bilateral international convention concluded between a Member State and a non-member country may, it is true, constitute an objective justification for the refusal by a Member State party to that convention to extend to nationals of other Member States the advantages which its own nationals derive from that convention (see, to that effect, Saint-Gobain ZN, cited above, paragraph 60).
38 The only objections which the INPS and the Italian Government have put forward to justify refusal to allow aggregation of the insurance periods completed by Mrs Gottardo relate to a possible increase in their financial burden and administrative difficulties in liaising with the competent authorities of the Swiss Confederation. Those grounds cannot justify the Italian Republic's failure to comply with its Treaty obligations.