05 Oct European Court of Justice – octobre 2023
Reference for a preliminary ruling – Social policy – Directive 79/7/EEC – Equal treatment for men and women in matters of social security – Article 6 – National legislation providing for the right to a pension supplement only for women – Preliminary ruling from the Court from which it may be held that that legislation constitutes direct discrimination on grounds of sex – Administrative practice of continuing to apply that legislation despite that ruling – Separate discrimination – Pecuniary damages – Reimbursement of expenditure relating to costs and lawyers’ fees.
ECJ, 14 September 2023, C 113/22, TGSS.
Source
Council Directive 79/7/EEC of 19 December 1978 on the progressive implementation of the principle of equal treatment for men and women in matters of social security, in particular Article 6 thereof,
– must be interpreted as meaning that where an application for the grant of a pension supplement submitted by a male scheme member has been rejected by the competent authority, under national legislation limiting the grant of that supplement to females scheme members only, whereas that legislation constitutes direct discrimination on grounds of sex, within the meaning of Directive 79/7, as interpreted by the Court of Justice in a preliminary ruling delivered prior to the decision rejecting such an application, the national court hearing an action against that decision must instruct that authority not only to grant the pension supplement claimed to the person concerned, but also to pay him compensation enabling the loss and damage actually sustained by him as a result of the discrimination to be made good in full, in accordance with the applicable national rules, including costs and lawyers’ fees which he has incurred in court, where that rejection decision was adopted in accordance with an administrative practice of continuing to apply the aforementioned legislation despite that preliminary ruling, thereby obliging the person concerned to assert in court his right to that supplement.
