Keywords
Summary

Keywords

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Social security for migrant workers - Benefits - Residence clauses - Waiver - Scope and limits - Insurance in respect of old age and death - Special procedures for applying the Netherlands legislation on general old-age insurance - Periods prior to 1 January 1957 taken into account subject to a residence requirement in certain cases - Permissible

( Council Regulation No 1408/71, Art . 10(1 ), and Annex VI, Part J, Point 2 )

Summary

The purpose of Article 10(1 ) of Regulation No 1408/71 concerning the waiving of residence clauses is to guarantee the person concerned his right to social security benefits even after taking up residence in a different Member State and to promote the freedom of movement of workers, by insulating those concerned from the harmful consequences which might result when they transfer their residence from one Member State to another . If that objective is to be attained, the protection given must necessarily extend to cover benefits which, while created within the confines of a particular scheme, are given effect by increasing the value of the pension to which the recipient is entitled .

However, the rule in Article 10 cannot be applied without restriction to a general old-age insurance scheme, such as the Netherlands scheme, in which the mere fact of residence in the State is sufficient qualification for insurance purposes . Consequently, Point 2 of the part entitled "Netherlands" in Annex VI to Regulation No 1408/71 lays down special provisions governing the waiving of residence clauses in that system, particularly with regard to the treatment of periods prior to 1 January 1957 as periods of insurance for persons who satisfy certain conditions . Interpreted in the light of those provisions, Article 10(1 ) thus does not preclude a provision of the relevant Netherlands legislation from preventing a person from acquiring the right to the benefit of the transitional provisions which it lays down merely because he is not resident in the territory of the State .