Mário Lopes da Veiga v Staatssecretaris van Justitie.
Date: 1989-09-27
9 Article 216(1 ) of the Act of Accession provides that Articles 1 to 6 of Regulation ( EEC ) No 1612/68 of the Council of 15 October 1968 on freedom of movement for workers within the Community ( Official Journal, English Special Edition 1968 ( II ), p . 475 ) is to apply in Portugal with regard to nationals of the other Member States and in the other Member States with regard to Portuguese nationals only as from 1 January 1993 . It follows from an a contrario interpretation of that provision that Article 7 et seq . of the regulation, which are not covered by that derogating provision, apply as from 1 January 1986, the date on which the Act of Accession came into force .
10 That interpretation is consistent with the ratio of the transitional arrangements, which suspend, until 1 January 1993, the application of the provisions of Title I of Regulation No 1612/68 dealing with eligibility for employment, in order to prevent disruption of the labour markets of the old Member States through a massive influx of Portuguese nationals seeking employment . There is no reason, however, to refuse to allow the provisions of Title II of Regulation No 1612/68 dealing with employment and equality of treatment to be applied to Portuguese workers who were already employed in the territory of one of the old Member States .
15 With regard to professional activities which are pursued, partially or temporarily, outside the territory of the Community, the Court has held, in its judgments of 12 December 1974 in Case 36/74 Walrave v Union cycliste internationale (( 1974 )) ECR 1405 and of 12 July 1984 in Case 237/83 Prodest SARL v Caisse primaire d' assurance maladie de Paris (( 1984 )) ECR 3153, that persons pursuing such activities had the status of workers employed in the territory of a Member State if the legal relationship of employment could be located within the territory of the Community or retained a sufficiently close link with that territory .
17 It is for the national court to decide whether the employment relationship of the applicant in the main proceedings has a sufficiently close connection with the territory of the Netherlands, taking into account in particular the following circumstances apparent from the case-file and from the written and oral observations submitted to the Court : the applicant works on board a vessel registered in the Netherlands in the employ of a shipping company incorporated under the law of the Netherlands and established in that State; he was hired in the Netherlands and the employment relationship between him and his employer is subject to Netherlands law; he is insured under the social security system of the Netherlands and pays income tax in the Netherlands .
19 Consequently, the reply to the first question submitted by the Raad van State must be that Article 216(1 ) of the Act of Accession must be interpreted as meaning that Article 7 et seq . of Regulation ( EEC ) No 1612/68 may be relied upon by a Portuguese national who, since a date prior to the accession of Portugal, has been carrying on an activity as an employed person on board a vessel flying the flag of another Member State and who has not been granted possession of a residence document for carrying on an activity as an employed person in the territory of that State, if the employment relationship has a sufficiently close connection with the territory of that Member State .
The second question