Opinion of Advocate General Spielmann delivered on 18 December 2025.

• Jurisdiction: European Union
• Court: Court of Justice (European Union)
• ECLI: ECLI:EU:C:2025:995
• Date: 18 December 2025

Provisional text

OPINION OF ADVOCATE GENERAL

SPIELMANN

delivered on 18 December 2025 (1)

Case C‑717/24

BD

v

Sociálna poisťovňa, ústredie

(Request for a preliminary ruling from the Najvyšší správny súd Slovenskej republiky (Supreme Administrative Court of the Slovak Republic))

( Reference for a preliminary ruling – Social security schemes – Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 – Retirement pension – Conditions for granting – Special rules on aggregation of periods – Article 51(1) – National legislation providing for more favourable treatment for certain categories of persons engaged in specific occupations )

Introduction

1. The request for a preliminary ruling was made by the Najvyšší správny súd Slovenskej republiky (Supreme Administrative Court of the Slovak Republic) in the context of a dispute between BD, the applicant in the main proceedings, and Sociálna poisťovňa, ústredie (Social Insurance Fund, Central Administration, Slovakia) (‘the Slovak Social Insurance Fund’), concerning the refusal of BD’s application to receive a retirement pension, in respect of his work as a miner in a deep mine, from the age of 55.

2. The present case thus gives the Court an opportunity, for the first time, to interpret Article 51(1) of Regulation (EC) No 883/2004, (2) on the aggregation of periods for the determination of entitlement to an old-age pension in cases where the legislation of a Member State, without providing for a special scheme distinct from the general social security scheme, nevertheless reserves the application of special rules to certain activities or certain occupations.

Legal framework

European Union law

3. Article 48 TFEU provides:

‘The European Parliament and the Council shall, acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure, adopt such measures in the field of social security as are necessary to provide freedom of movement for workers; to this end, they shall make arrangements to secure for employed and self-employed migrant workers and their dependants:

(a) aggregation, for the purpose of acquiring and retaining the right to benefit and of calculating the amount of benefit, of all periods taken into account under the laws of the several countries;

…’

4. According to recital 1 of Regulation No 883/2004:

‘The rules for coordination of national social security systems fall within the framework of free movement of persons and should contribute towards improving their standard of living and conditions of employment.’

5. Recital 13 of that regulation states:

‘The coordination rules must guarantee that persons moving within the Community and their dependants and survivors retain the rights and the advantages acquired and in the course of being acquired.’

6. Recital 45 of that regulation states that the objective of the proposed action is to adopt coordination measures to guarantee that the right to free movement of persons can be exercised effectively.

7. Article 6 of that regulation, entitled ‘Aggregation of periods’, is worded as follows:

‘Unless otherwise provided for by this Regulation, the competent institution of a Member State whose legislation makes:

– the acquisition, retention, duration or recovery of the right to benefits,

…

conditional upon the completion of periods of insurance, employment, self-employment or residence shall, to the extent necessary, take into account periods of insurance, employment, self-employment or residence completed under the legislation of any other Member State as though they were periods completed under the legislation which it applies.’

8. Article 51 of Regulation No 883/2004, entitled ‘Special provisions on aggregation of periods’, provides, in paragraph 1:

‘Where the legislation of a Member State makes the granting of certain benefits conditional upon the periods of insurance having been completed only in a specific activity as an employed or self-employed person or in an occupation which is subject to a special scheme for employed or self-employed persons, the competent institution of that Member State shall take into account periods completed under the legislation of other Member States only if completed under a corresponding scheme or, failing that, in the same occupation, or where appropriate, in the same activity as an employed or self-employed person.

If, account having been taken of the periods thus completed, the person concerned does not satisfy the conditions for receipt of the benefits of a special scheme, these periods shall be taken into account for the purposes of providing the benefits of the general scheme or, failing that, of the scheme applicable to manual or clerical workers, as the case may be, provided that the person concerned had been affiliated to one or other of those schemes.’

Czechoslovak law

9. Paragraph 1 of Zákon č. 100/1988 Zb. o sociálnom zabezpečení (Law No 100/1988 on social security) of 16 June 1998 (‘Law No 100/1988’), entitled ‘Basic principles’, provided, in the version applicable from 1 October 1988 to 31 May 1992:

‘…

(2) Every citizen shall have the right to social security under this Law. The State shall provide social security benefits and services.

…

(4) The amount of retirement benefits shall depend primarily on the merits of the employment, that is to say the length of the period of employment … and the category of work performed.’

10. Paragraph 14 of Law No 100/1988 was worded as follows:

‘(1) For pension purposes, jobs shall be divided into three categories according to the type of work performed.

(2) Category I shall include jobs where predominantly hazardous activities are performed continuously and within a calendar month, where there is frequent and permanent deterioration of workers’ health due to exposure to harmful physical and chemical agents, including

(a) mining jobs with a permanent underground workplace in deep mines,

(b) other types of mining jobs where work is performed underground in deep mines, …

…

(4) Category III shall include jobs which are not classified in categories I or II.’

11. In accordance with Paragraph 21 of that law, entitled ‘Conditions for entitlement to a retirement pension’:

‘(1) A citizen shall be entitled to a retirement pension if he or she has been employed for at least [25] years and reached the age of at least

(a) 55, provided that he or she has been employed for at least 15 years in an occupation referred to in Paragraph 14(2)(a) …,

…’

12. Law No 100/1988 was amended by Zákon č. 235/1992 Zb. o zrušení pracovných kategórií a o niektorých ďalších zmenách v sociálnom zabezpečení (Law No 235/1992 abolishing employment categories and making certain further changes to social security) of 28 April 1992 (‘Law No 235/1992’), which entered into force on 1 June 1992.

13. Paragraph 14(1) of Law No 100/1988, in the version thereof as amended by Law No 235/1992, provided:

‘For pension insurance purposes, until 31 December 1992, jobs shall be classified into three categories depending on the type of work performed. Category I and II jobs are set out in the sectoral lists of occupations classified in categories I and II published before 1 June 1992; jobs which do not fall into categories I or II shall be included in category III.’

14. Under Paragraph 15 of that law:

‘For pension insurance purposes, jobs engaged in after 31 December 1992 shall be regarded as category III jobs.’

15. Under Paragraph 175 of that law:

‘Entitlements arising from the classification of jobs in categories I and II or of services in categories I and II shall be taken into account until 31 December 2016.’

Slovak law

16. Paragraph 65 of Zákon č. 461/2003 Z. z. o sociálnom poistení (Law No 461/2003 on social insurance) of 30 October 2003 (‘Law No 461/2003’) is worded as follows:

‘(1) Insured persons are entitled to a retirement pension if they have paid pension contributions for at least 15 years and have reached retirement age.

(2) The retirement age of insured persons shall be determined in accordance with Annex 3a, subject to Paragraph 274 of this Law …’

17. Lastly, according to Paragraph 274 of that law:

‘(1) Entitlements arising from the classification of jobs in categories I and II shall be maintained.

…’

The dispute in the main proceedings, the questions referred for a preliminary ruling and the procedure before the Court of Justice

18. The Czechoslovak federation was dissolved on 31 December 1992, giving rise to two separate states. Previously, in the legislation of the Czechoslovak federation, different occupations were classified into three categories, according to their level of risk. Work as a miner was classified as a category I occupation and miners were thus entitled to a retirement pension from the age of 55, provided that they had worked for 25 years, including 15 years underground in a deep mine. In 1992, Law No 100/1988 was amended by Law No 235/1992, pursuant to which those categories were to cease to exist on 31 December 1992 and all employees were to be classified under category III as from that date. That applied only to occupations engaged in after 31 December 1992, while entitlements arising from employment in category I or II occupations before that date were to be maintained until 31 December 2016.

19. On 31 December 1992, in the Czech Republic, the federal law abolishing the categorisation of occupations entered into force. In the territory of Slovakia, on the other hand, the application of that law was postponed on several occasions, and the categorisation of occupations was not abolished until 31 December 1999.

20. The applicant in the main proceedings is a Slovak national who worked from 1 July 1976 to 31 August 1995 as a miner in an underground mine in Karviná, in the territory of the present-day Czech Republic. He subsequently held various other jobs in the Czech Republic and then in Slovakia.

21. In 2013, the applicant in the main proceedings, who was then 55 years old, applied for his retirement pension to be paid in Slovakia. The...