European Court of Justice

HC Deb 26 April 1993 vol 223 c307W

10. Mr. Hague

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many cases in the European Court of Justice have been won by his Department.

Mr. Lilley

Since the beginning of 1992 the European Court of Justice has decided in favour of my Department in two cases in which I was a party.

During this time there was a total of nine ECJ cases involving the United Kingdom social security system.

Mr. Harry Greenway

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what has been the outcome of recent European Court of Justice cases affecting his Department's policies.

Mr. Burt

Since the beginning of last year, nine cases involving the United Kingdom's interpretation of EC law as it affects social security have been referred to the European Court of Justice. The European Court confirmed the United Kingdom's policy interpretation of EC legislation in six of these cases. Two cases involved the clarification of issues as they affected the individual concerned and did not require changes in United Kingdom policy. One case has required a change in the United Kingdom rules governing whether family credit may be given to workers whose families are not resident in the United Kingdom. The remaining case has been referred back to the House of Lords for final determination.

The Department can also be affected by cases involving other member states, although there have been no such recent judgments.