The current discussion on Austrian family benefits - indicating a major dissensus on the interpretation of EU law

Balthasar, Alexander (author)

In early 2018, Austria amended its family benefits law by introducing 'indexation' according to the average living costs of the country where the child actually resides. What seems to be, at first sight, a flagrant breach of EU law (in particular of Article 7 of Regulation [EC] 883/2004) is, when looking deeper, much more complicated and might very well be only a symptom of deeply rooted differences in the interpretation of current, post-Lisbon Union law, (i) in particular with regard to the relationship between the traditional prohibition of "discrimination on grounds of nationality" (Article 18 TFEU, Article 21(2) CFR; the 'Leitmotiv' of the Treaties) and the "citizenship of the Union" (Article 9 second sentence TEU, Article 20(1), first and second sentence) on the one hand and the further role of the "nationality of a Member State" on the other, which shall, pursuant to Article 9 TEU, third sentence, as well as Article 20(1) TFEU, third sentence, not be replaced by the "citizenship of the Union", (ii) but also with regard to Article 352 TFEU, the scope of which is, most probably, much smaller than that of its predecessor, Article 308 TEC, (iii) and last but not least, with regard to a proper understanding of the principle of equal treatment, requiring not to treat alike factually different situations. Giving a full picture not only in abstract terms but demonstrating the relevance of the said differences on the concrete example of the interpretation of the above mentioned secondary legislation, the author aims at contributing to bridging gaps and, thus, fostering a better mutual understanding as a vital precondition for the future legal cohesion of the EU.

• Language: English
• Keywords: family benefits, citizenship of the Union, nationality, principles of equal treatment/non-discrimination, rights of the child, principle of conferral, Treaties amendment clauses, assessment of validity of EU law
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FU - Faculty of Administration
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2020
• Number of pages: Str. 73-100
• Numbering: Vol. 18, no. 2
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-128647
• UDC: 35(497.4)
• ISSN on article: 2591-2240
• DOI: 10.17573/cepar.2020.2.04
• COBISS.SI-ID: 67502339

Note

Povzetek v slov. na koncu publikacije, str. 200-201.

• Publication date in RUL: 22.07.2021

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Central European public administration review
• Publisher: Fakulteta za upravo
• ISSN: 2591-2240
• COBISS.SI-ID: 293849600

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.
• Licensing start date: 30.10.2020

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Title: Aktualna razprava o družinskih prejemkih v Avstriji - pokazatelj pomembnega nesoglasja pri razlagi zakonodaje EU

Abstract

V začetku leta 2018 je Avstrija spremenila svoj zakon o družinskih prejemkih in uvedla indeksacijo s povprečnimi življenjskimi stroški države, v kateri otrok dejansko prebiva. Kar je na prvi pogled videti kot očitna kršitev zakonodaje EU (zlasti člena 7 Uredbe [ES] 883/2004), je, če pogledamo globlje, precej bolj zapleteno in bi lahko bilo zgolj simptom globoko zakoreninjenih razlik pri razlagi veljavne zakonodaje EU v času po Lizbonski pogodbi, (i) zlasti v zvezi z razmerjem med tradicionalno prepovedjo "diskriminacije na podlagi državljanstva" (18. člen PDEU, drugi odstavek 21. člena Listine EU o temeljnih pravicah; gre za rdečo nit ustanovitvenih pogodb) in "državljanstvom Unije" (drugi stavek 9. člena PEU, prvi in drugi stavek prvega odstavka 20. člena) na eni strani ter nadaljnjim pomenom "nacionalnega državljanstva" na drugi strani, ki ga v skladu s tretjim stavkom 9. člena PEU in tretjim stavkom prvega odstavka 20. člena PDEU ne nadomesti "državljanstvo Unije", (ii) pa tudi glede 352. člena PDEU, čigar področje uporabe je najverjetneje precej manjše od predhodnika, 308. člena PES, (iii) in nenazadnje glede pravilnega razumevanja načela enakega obravnavanja, ki zahteva, da se dejansko različne situacije ne obravnavajo enako. Avtor svojega pogleda ne poda zgolj abstraktno, temveč pomembnost omenjenih razlik utemeljuje na konkretnem primeru razlage navedene sekundarne zakonodaje, s čimer želi prispevati k premoščanju vrzeli in spodbujanju boljšega medsebojnega razumevanja kot bistvenega pogoja za prihodnjo pravno kohezijo EU.

• Keywords: družinski prejemki, državljanstvo Unije, nacionalno državljanstvo, načeli enakega obravnavanja in nediskriminacije, otrokove pravice, načelo prenosa, spremembe ustanovitvenih pogodb, presoja veljavnosti zakonodaje EU