Court of Justice of the European Union Decides Limiting Certain Benefits to Slovak Residents Does Not Breach EU Regulation (September 16, 2015) [1]
On September 16, 2015, the Court of Justice of the European Union (Court) ruled [3] that Slovakia had not failed to meet its obligations under EU law by limiting certain types of disability benefits and Christmas bonuses to low-income Slovak residents. The European Commission had alleged that the limitation of these benefits based on residency was a violation of EU Law, in particular the Regulation on the coordination of social security systems in the Member States of the EU [4] (Regulation), which prohibits discrimination on the base of residency against the recipients of cash benefits such as old-age and sickness benefits. The Court disagreed, noting that the determination of whether the benefits are covered by the Regulation depends “essentially on the constituent elements of each particular benefit, in particular its purpose and the conditions on which it is granted.” In order to fall within the scope of the Regulation, the benefits in question must be related to one of the branches of social security enumerated in the Regulation, such as old-age, sickness or maternity benefits, and must be awarded on an objective basis without administrative discretion. Because the disability benefits were awarded after an assessment process that allowed for individualized consideration by the administration, the Court ruled [5] that they did not fall under the Regulation. Regarding the Christmas bonus, the Court found [6] that while it was awarded on a non-discretionary basis, it was awarded also to low- income persons suffering from social difficulties and thus did not constitute an old-age benefit within the scope of the Regulation.