The government made additional payments to pensioners in respect of the additional fuel costs incurred in winter. The complainant asserted that as a man aged 62, he would not receive this benefit where a woman of the same age would have done, and that this was discrimination arising from his sex.
Held: The Directive provided for services including those relating to the age of the applicant, this benefit was one such, and the rules were discriminatory and unlawful.
Europa Directive 79/7/EEC – Equal treatment for men and women in matters of social security – Grant of a winter fuel payment – Link with pensionable age. Case C-382/98.
1 Social policy – Equal treatment for men and women in matters of social security – Matters covered by Directive 79/7 – Winter fuel payment payable to those who have reached a minimum age rather than on the basis of a lack of financial means – Included (Council Directive 79/7, Art. 3(1)) 2 Social policy – Equal treatment for men and women in matters of social security – Directive 79/7 – Derogation allowed in respect of possible consequences for other benefits of different pensionable ages – Scope -Limited to forms of discrimination necessarily and objectively linked to the difference in pensionable ages – Discrimination with regard to grant of a winter fuel payment – Excluded (Council Directive 79/7, Art. 7(2)(a))
Article 3(1) of Directive 79/7 on the progressive implementation of the principle of equal treatment for men and women in matters of social security, which defines the matters covered by the Directive, must be interpreted as meaning that a winter fuel payment, which is part of a statutory scheme, is covered by that directive in so far as payment of the benefit is always subject to the recipients having reached statutory retirement age and it is therefore aimed at protecting them against the risk of old age mentioned in that article. The benefit may be granted to elderly persons, even if they do not have financial difficulties, so that protection against a lack of financial means cannot be considered to be the aim of the benefit. 2 The derogation from the principle of equal treatment for men and women laid down in Article 7(1)(a) of Directive 79/7 on the progressive implementation of the principle of equal treatment for men and women in matters of social security is not applicable to a benefit such as the winter fuel payment, which is subject to the condition that the recipient has reached statutory retirement age, that is to say the age of 60 for women and 65 for men. Such discrimination is not objectively and necessarily linked to the difference in retirement age for men and women. First, from the point of view of the financial equilibrium of the social security system, it is not necessary either for the financial equilibrium of contributory pension schemes, in view of the fact that the benefits are granted under a non-contributory scheme, or for the financial equilibrium of the social security system as a whole. Secondly, from the point of view of consistency between the retirement pension scheme and the other benefit scheme, it is not required, since if the benefit is designed to provide protection against the risk of old age and must, therefore, be paid only to those above a certain age, it does not follow that that age must necessarily coincide with the statutory age of retirement and, as a result, be different for men and women.
Citations:
Times 25-Jan-2000, C-382/98, [1999] EUECJ C-382/98, [1999] ECR I-8955
Links:
Statutes:
Social Fund Winter Fuel Payment Amendment Regulations 1998 No 1910
Citing:
Cited – Amministrazione Delle Finanze Dello Stato v Spa San Giorgio ECJ 9-Nov-1983
ECJ Questions submitted for a preliminary ruling – reference to the court – right of every national court – stage of the proceedings before the national court – nature of the decision to be given by the national . .
Cited by:
Cited – Mcdermott and Cotter v Minister For Social Welfare and Attorney-General ECJ 24-Mar-1987
Europa Where council directive 79/7 has not been implemented, article 4(1) of the directive, which prohibits all discrimination on grounds of sex in matters of social security, could be relied on as from 23 . .
Cited – Walker-Fox v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions CA 29-Nov-2005
The claimant pensioner had moved to France. He sought to claim a retrospective winter fuel allowance claim. The government had eventually agreed to make payments to UK residents abroad.
Held: The claimant was deemed to have had knowledge of . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Discrimination, European, Benefits
Updated: 04 June 2022; Ref: scu.162518