Keywords
Summary

Keywords

1 Social security for migrant workers - Community rules - Scope ratione materiae - Child-raising allowance intended to meet family expenses of the recipient, granted on the basis of objective and legally defined criteria - Whether included

(Council Regulation No 1408/71, Art. 4(1)(h))

2 Freedom of movement for persons - Workers - Equal treatment - Social advantages - Definition - Child-raising allowance intended to meet family expenses of the recipient, granted on the basis of objective and legally defined criteria - Whether included

(Council Regulation 1612/68, Art. 7(2))

3 Freedom of movement for persons - Workers - Definition of worker - Definition varying according to area in which it is applied - Worker within the meaning of Article 48 of the Treaty and Regulation No 1612/68 - Definition - Employed person within the meaning of Regulation No 1408/71 - Definition

(EC Treaty, Arts 48 and 51; Council Regulations Nos 1612/68 and 1408/71, Arts 1(a) and 2))

4 Citizenship of the European Union - Treaty provisions - Scope ratione personae - National of one Member State lawfully residing on the territory of another Member State - Whether included - Effect - Benefit of rights attaching to the status of citizen of the European Union

(EC Treaty, Arts 6 and 8(2))

5 Community law - Principles - Equal treatment - Discrimination on grounds of nationality - Child-raising allowance - Conditions for granting - National rules requiring only nationals of other Member States to produce a residence permit - Not permissible

(EC Treaty, Art. 6)

Summary

1 A benefit such as the child-raising allowance, which is automatically granted to persons fulfilling certain objective criteria, without any individual and discretionary assessment of personal needs, and which is intended to meet family expenses, falls within the scope ratione materiae of Community law as a family benefit within the meaning of Article 4(1)(h) of Regulation No 1408/71.

2 A benefit such as the child-raising allowance, which is automatically granted to persons fulfilling certain objective criteria, without any individual and discretionary assessment of personal needs, and which is intended to meet family expenses, falls within the scope ratione materiae of Community law as a social advantage within the meaning of Article 7(2) of Regulation No 1612/68.

The concept of social advantage covers all the advantages which, whether or not linked to a contract of employment, are generally granted to national workers primarily because of their objective status as workers or by virtue of the mere fact of their residence on the national territory and whose extension to workers who are nationals of other Member States therefore seems likely to facilitate the mobility of such workers within the Community

3 There is no single definition of worker in Community law: it varies according to the area in which the definition is to be applied. For instance, the definition of worker used in the context of Article 48 of the Treaty and Regulation No 1612/68 does not necessarily coincide with the definition applied in relation to Article 51 of the Treaty and Regulation No 1408/71.

In the context of Article 48 of the Treaty and Regulation No 1612/68, a person who, for a certain period of time, performs services for and under the direction of another person in return for which he receives remuneration must be considered to be a worker.

On the other hand, a person has the status of employed person within the meaning of Regulation No 1408/71 where he is covered, even if only in respect of a single risk, compulsorily or on an optional basis, by a general or special social security scheme mentioned in Article 1(a) of Regulation No 1408/71, irrespective of the existence of an employment relationship.

4 A national of a Member State lawfully residing in the territory of another Member State comes within the scope ratione personae of the provisions of the Treaty on European citizenship and can rely on the rights laid down by the Treaty which Article 8(2) attaches to the status of citizen of the Union, including the right, laid down in Article 6, not to suffer discrimination on grounds of nationality within the scope of application ratione materiae of the Treaty.

5 Community law precludes a Member State from requiring nationals of other Member States authorised to reside in its territory to produce a formal residence permit issued by the national authorities in order to receive a child-raising allowance, whereas that Member State's own nationals are only required to be permanently or ordinarily resident in that Member State.

For the purposes of the grant of the benefit in question, possession of a residence permit cannot be constitutive of the right to the benefit when, for the purposes of recognition of the right of residence, it has only declaratory and probative force.