Keywords
Summary

Keywords

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1. Social policy ° Equal treatment for men and women in matters of social security ° Scope ratione personae of Directive 79/7 ° Working population within the meaning of Article 2 of the directive ° Case of a person not in receipt of income from work before the commencement of incapacity for work

(Council Directive 79/7, Art. 2)

2. Social policy ° Equal treatment for men and women in matters of social security ° Directive 79/7 ° National legislation making receipt of a benefit for incapacity for work subject to the requirement of having received an income in connection with work in the year preceding the commencement of incapacity ° Condition affecting more women than men ° Objective justification ° Permissibility ° Legislation terminating a previous scheme from which more persons were eligible to benefit ° No effect

(Council Directive 79/7, Art. 4(1))

Summary

1. The definition of the working population within the meaning of Article 2 of Directive 79/7 on the progressive implementation of the principle of equal treatment for men and women in matters of social security is very broad, since it covers any worker, including persons who are merely seeking employment, with the result that a person who, in the year preceding the commencement of incapacity for work, did not receive a certain income from or in connection with work does not necessarily fall outside the scope ratione personae of the directive.

2. Directive 79/7 on the progressive implementation of the principle of equal treatment for men and women in matters of social security leaves intact the powers reserved by Articles 117 and 118 of the Treaty to the Member States to define their social policy, in the exercise of a broad margin of discretion, within the framework of close cooperation organized by the Commission, and consequently the nature and extent of measures of social protection, including those relating to social security, and the way in which they are implemented.

It follows that Article 4(1) of Directive 79/7 does not preclude the application of national legislation which makes receipt of a benefit for incapacity for work subject to the requirement of having received a certain income from or in connection with work in the year preceding the commencement of incapacity, even if that requirement affects more women than men. Guaranteeing the benefit of a minimum income to persons who were in receipt of income from work which they had to abandon owing to incapacity for work satisfies a legitimate aim of social policy and to make the benefit of that minimum income subject to that requirement constitutes a measure appropriate to achieve that aim which the national legislature, in the exercise of its competence, was reasonably entitled to consider necessary in order to do so.

The fact that that scheme replaced a scheme of pure national insurance and reduced the number of persons eligible to benefit from it does not affect its compatibility with Community law. Since Community law does not prevent Member States from taking measures which have the effect of withdrawing social security benefits from certain categories of persons, provided that those measures are compatible with the principle of equal treatment between men and women as defined in Article 4(1) of Directive 79/7, Member States are also free to lay down, as part of their social policy, new rules which have the effect of reducing the number of persons eligible for a social security benefit.