Keywords
Summary

Keywords

International agreements - EEC-Turkey Association Agreement - Social security for migrant workers - Determination of the date of birth of the person concerned - National rules allowing changes after the declaration made by the person concerned to a social security authority only on production of a document issued before that declaration was made - Discrimination on grounds of nationality - None

(Decision No 3/80 of the EEC/Turkey Association Council, Art. 3(1))

Summary

$$Article 3(1) of Decision No 3/80 of the EEC-Turkey Association Council on the application of the social security schemes of the Member States of the European Communities to Turkish workers and members of their families, under which Turkish nationals who reside in the territory of one of the Member States and to whom that Decision applies are to enjoy in the Member State in which they reside the same social security benefits under the legislation of that Member State as the nationals of that State, must be interpreted as not precluding a Member State from applying to Turkish workers legislation which, for the purposes of awarding a retirement pension and determining the social security number allocated for that purpose, takes as the conclusive date of birth the one given in the first declaration made by the person concerned to a social security authority in that Member State and allows another date of birth to be taken into account only if a document is produced the original of which was issued before that declaration was made.

Such legislation, which applies irrespective of the nationality of the workers concerned and accords to the documents to be produced in order to set aside the date of birth indicated in the first declaration made to a social security authority the same probative value regardless of their provenance or origin, does not place Turkish nationals in a different legal situation from that of nationals of the Member State in which they reside. Nor does it involve any difference of treatment such as to constitute indirect discrimination on grounds of nationality, since it is not permissible, on the basis of the principle of non-discrimination on grounds of nationality embodied in Article 3(1) of the Decision, to require a Member State which lays down rules regarding the determination of dates of birth for the purpose of establishing a social security number and of awarding a retirement pension to take account of particular circumstances which derive from the Turkish legislation on civil status and of the detailed arrangements for its application in practice.

( see paras 36, 40-41, 44, 51-52, 55 and operative part )