Keywords
Summary

Keywords

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Social policy ° Equal treatment for men and women in matters of social security ° Directive 79/7, Art. 4(1) ° Grant and amount of an old-age pension supplement linked to income from work of a dependent spouse who has not yet reached retirement age ° Whether permissible ° Conditions

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

Summary

Article 4(1) of Directive 79/7 on the progressive implementation of the principle of equal treatment for men and women in matters of social security must be interpreted as not precluding the application of national legislation on old-age insurance which, regardless of sex, makes the grant and the amount of a supplement payable to a pensioner whose dependent spouse has not yet reached retirement age depend exclusively on the income earned by the spouse from or in connection with work.

Although the effect of such legislation is that far more men than women qualify for the supplement, it corresponds to a legitimate objective of social policy, namely guaranteeing a couple, where one of the spouses has not yet reached pensionable age, an income equal to the social minimum which they will receive when they are both pensioners, involves supplements suitable and requisite for attaining that aim and is therefore justified by reasons unrelated to discrimination on grounds of sex.