1. Freedom of movement for persons - Workers - Definition - National of a Member State employed by an international organisation - Included
(EC Treaty, Art. 48 (now, after amendment, Art. 39 EC))
2. Community law - Principles - Equal treatment - Discrimination on grounds of nationality - Higher scales of fees for medical and hospital care for persons not affiliated to the national social security scheme of a Member State, such as officials - Prohibition in the absence of objective justification
(EC Treaty, Art. 6, first para. (now, after amendment, Art. 12 EC, first para.))
1. A national of one Member State working in another Member State does not lose his status of worker within the meaning of Article 48(1) of the Treaty (now, after amendment, Article 39(1) EC) through occupying a post within an international organisation, even if the rules relating to entry into and residence in the country in which he is employed are specifically governed by an international agreement. Accordingly, there can be no doubt that an EC official has the status of a migrant worker.
( see para. 42 )
2. The first paragraph of Article 6 of the Treaty (now, after amendment, the first paragraph of Article 12 EC) also applies in cases where a group or organisation such as the Entente des hôpitaux luxembourgeois exercises a certain power over individuals and is in a position to impose on them conditions which adversely affect the exercise of the fundamental freedoms guaranteed under the Treaty.
The application, on a unilateral basis, by a group of healthcare providers of a Member State to EC officials of scales of fees for medical and hospital maternity care which are higher than those applicable to residents affiliated to the national social security scheme of that State constitutes discrimination on the ground of nationality prohibited under the first paragraph of Article 6 of the EC Treaty, in the absence of objective justification in this respect.
The criterion of affiliation to the national social security scheme, on which the differentiation of fees for medical and hospital care is based, constitutes indirect discrimination on the ground of nationality. First, the great majority of those affiliated to the Sickness Insurance Scheme common to the institutions of the European Communities and not to the national social security scheme, although in receipt of medical and hospital care given in Luxembourg, are nationals of other Member States. Second, the overwhelming majority of nationals residing in Luxembourg are covered by the national social security scheme.
( see paras 50, 58, 62 and operative part )