Official Journal of the European Union

C 318/3

(Case C-625/20) (*)

(Reference for a preliminary ruling - Social policy - Equal treatment for men and women in matters of social security - Directive 79/7/EEC - Article 4(1) - Indirect discrimination on ground of sex - National legislation providing that two or more total occupational invalidity pensions acquired under the same statutory social security scheme are incompatible - Compatibility of such pensions where they come under different statutory social security schemes - Finding of indirect discrimination on the basis of statistical data - Determination of the affected groups to be compared - Justification)

(2022/C 318/03)

Language of the case: Spanish

Referring court

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicant: KM

Defendant: Instituto Nacional de la Seguridad Social (INSS)

Operative part of the judgment

Article 4(1) of 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 must be interpreted as precluding national legislation which prevents workers affiliated to social security from receiving a combination of two total occupational invalidity pensions where those pensions come under the same social security scheme, while permitting such a combination where those pensions come under different social security schemes, where that legislation places female workers at a particular disadvantage as compared with male workers, in particular in so far as that legislation permits a significantly higher proportion of male workers, determined on the basis of all male workers subject to that legislation, as compared with the corresponding proportion of female workers, to benefit from that combination and where that legislation is not justified by objective factors unrelated to any discrimination on ground of sex.

(*) Language of the case: Spanish.