Keywords
Summary

Keywords

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1. Officials ° Pensions ° Survivor' s pension ° Condition as to prior duration of marriage ° Account taken of cohabitation ° None

(Staff Regulations, Annex VIII, Arts 17a and 20; Council Regulation No 3518/85, Art. 4(8))

2. Officials ° Duty of the administration to have regard to the interests of officials ° Limits ° Interpretation of a provision of the Staff Regulations contrary to its wording ° Not permissible

Summary

1. The condition as to the prior duration of marriage provided for by Articles 17a and 20 of Annex VIII to the Staff Regulations and by Article 4(8) of Regulation No 3518/85 introducing special measures to terminate the service of officials of the European Communities as a result of the accession of Spain and Portugal refers, for the purpose of conferring on the surviving spouse a right to a survivor' s pension, to the situation of persons who have formally contracted a civil marriage recognized by law, with all the rights and obligations which that entails. It is not for the Court to widen the judicial interpretation of the specific terms used in the provisions in question in order to bring cohabitation within the definition of marriage. Any extension of that concept would alter the legal basis of the provisions in question, with serious legal and financial consequences for the Communities and for third parties. A change on that scale can only be made by the Community legislature if it considers such a change to be necessary.

2. The duty to have regard to the interests of officials cannot lead the administration to interpret a Community provision in a manner contrary to the specific wording of that provision.