Keywords
Summary

Keywords

1. Freedom of movement for persons — Workers — Equal treatment — Social advantages — Concept — (Council Regulation No 1612/68, Art. 7(2))

2. Freedom of movement for persons — Workers — Equal treatment — Legislation of a Member State ensuring in respect of its nationals, during the suspension of their contract of employment in the public sector on account of military service, the continued payment on their behalf of employer ' s and employee ' s supplementary retirement contributions — Advantage excluded from the scope of Article 7 of Regulation No 1612/68 because granted as compensation for the consequences of military service — Advantage may not be claimed by nationals of other Member States — (Council Regulation No 1612/68, Art. 7(1) and (2))

Summary

1. " Social advantages" within the meaning of Article 7(2) of Regulation No 1612/68 on freedom of movement for workers within the Community should be understood to mean all those advantages which, whether or not linked to a contract of employment, are generally granted to national workers because of their objective status as workers or by virtue of the mere fact of their residence on the national territory and the extension of which to workers who are nationals of other Member States therefore seems likely to facilitate their mobility within the Community.

2. Article 7(1) and (2) of Regulation No 1612/68 on freedom of movement for workers within the Community must be interpreted as meaning that a worker who is a national of a Member State and performs military service in that State and whose contract of employment in the public sector of another Member State is thus suspended is not entitled, during such suspension, to have payment continued on his behalf, under the same conditions as if he were working, of the employer ' s and employee ' s contributions to the supplementary retirement scheme of which he is a member in the Member State of employment, even if the latter grants such a right to its nationals in the same circumstances.

The continued payment of supplementary retirement contributions during a period of suspension of the employment contract which is granted to nationals of the Member State in question constitutes an advantage established by the legislature to compensate partially those nationals called up to perform military service for the consequences of that obligation. It is not made by virtue of a statutory or contractual obligation incumbent on the employer as conditions of employment and work, within the meaning of Article 7(1) of Regulation No 1612/68 and cannot be considered to be an advantage granted to national workers because of their objective status as workers or by virtue of the mere fact of their residence on the national territory, that is as a social advantage within the meaning of Article 7(2) thereof.