Parents of two or more children who experience discrimination in accessing the program permanent disability pension supplement have the right to receive additional compensation. In a decision made this Thursday Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) In a case in Spain, the Luxembourg-based court concluded that “it is an administrative practice that consists in systematically denying parents this additional benefit, thereby ignoring the consequences that should be drawn from the decision given in 2019. The ECJ found that the privilege granted to mothers alone He declared that it was discriminatory and that it exposed fathers to double discrimination.”
In the decision cited four years ago, the European Court declared that in Spain pension supplements were only granted to mothers with two or more children (biological or adopted) who were entitled to a permanent disability pension, excluding fathers in a similar situation. constitutes a situation discrimination directly due to sex This is contrary to the equal treatment directive. In November 2020, as a result of this decision, the father of two decided to request from the Spanish Social Security the recognition of the above-mentioned supplementary entitlement to the absolute permanent disability benefit he has received since November 2018.
Spanish Social Security rejected his claim and the affected person decided to appeal to the courts. In the first decision, the Spanish court recognized his right, but simultaneously rejected the requested compensation. Both the father and the Spanish authorities objected to this sentence before the court. Supreme Court of Justice of Galicia decided to submit a preliminary question to the European court to rule on possible discrimination and compensation possibilities.
equal treatment
In the decision published this Thursday, the CJEU reminds that national courts and national administrative authorities should refrain from applying any discriminatory national practices once the existence of discrimination in breach of European legislation has been established and unless measures have been taken to restore equal treatment. Without waiting for the legislature to repeal this provision. That is, they should apply the same regime to members of disadvantaged groups, in this case fathers, as applied to people in the other category, such as mothers.
The court also found that the administrative practice of systematically denying parents this additional support new discrimination because it forces only men to go to court to access the right, subjecting them to a longer period of time and, where appropriate, additional costs to obtain that right. “Consequently, the national court hearing the application against the rejection decision in question cannot limit itself to recognizing the disputed retirement supplement right of the male member in question with retroactive effect.”
So agreeing with him “will not compensate for the harm resulting from the new discrimination”, so “the man should also be given sufficient financial compensation to enable him to be fully compensated for the harm he has actually suffered”. discrimination. “This compensation must take into account the costs incurred by the member, including expenses and legal fees,” emphasizes the CJEU.