''Association belge des Consommateurs Test-Achats ASBL v Conseil des ministres'' (2011
C-236/09is a decision of the
European Court of Justice
The European Court of Justice (ECJ, french: Cour de Justice européenne), formally just the Court of Justice, is the supreme court of the European Union in matters of European Union law. As a part of the Court of Justice of the European Un ...
which invalidated a provision of
Directive 2004/113/EC
Directive may refer to:
* Directive (European Union), a legislative act of the European Union
* Directive (programming), a computer language construct that specifies how a compiler should process input
* "Directive" (poem), a poem by Robert Frost
...
of the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
which permitted the continence of sexual discrimination in the provision of insurance services provided that it was based on "relevant and accurate actuarial and statistical data." The practical result of the decision was the prohibition of
sexual discrimination
Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but it primarily affects women and girls.There is a clear and broad consensus among academic scholars in multiple fields that sexism refers primari ...
in insurance policies.
Facts
A Belgian consumer association,
Test-Achats
Test Aankoop ( Dutch) or Test Achats (French) is a Belgian non-profit consumer organization which promotes consumer protection. It was founded in 1957 and publishes research in a subscription magazine.
History
Test Achats was founded by Louis Dar ...
, against the Belgian government claiming that the legal measure adopted by the government to
transpose
In linear algebra, the transpose of a matrix is an operator which flips a matrix over its diagonal;
that is, it switches the row and column indices of the matrix by producing another matrix, often denoted by (among other notations).
The tr ...
the Gender Directive into
EU law
European Union law is a system of rules operating within the member states of the European Union (EU). Since the founding of the European Coal and Steel Community following World War II, the EU has developed the aim to "promote peace, its val ...
violated the
Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union
The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (CFR) enshrines certain political, social, and economic rights for European Union (EU) citizens and residents into EU law. It was drafted by the European Convention and solemnly proclaim ...
. The Constitutional Court asked the European Court of Justice for a
preliminary ruling
A preliminary ruling is a decision of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) on the interpretation of European Union law that is given in response to a request (preliminary reference) from a court or a tribunal of a member state. A preliminary rulin ...
on the validity of Article 5(2) of the directive.
Judgment
On 1 March 2011 the ECJ ruled in favour of Test-Achats that Article 5(2) was in breach of the Charter of Fundamental Rights and therefore void. However the court ruled that there would be a transitional period to enable insurance companies to comply with the ruling this lasted until the 21 December 2012.
The ruling means that after the transitional period ended all new insurance contracts entered into in the 27
European Union member states could no longer use sex to determine premiums paid or benefits granted. The ruling benefits male drivers and male purchasers of
life insurance
Life insurance (or life assurance, especially in the Commonwealth of Nations) is a contract between an insurance policy holder and an insurer or assurer, where the insurer promises to pay a designated beneficiary a sum of money upon the death ...
, who tend to experience claims more than women in these areas; it will also benefit female purchasers of
health insurance
Health insurance or medical insurance (also known as medical aid in South Africa) is a type of insurance that covers the whole or a part of the risk of a person incurring medical expenses. As with other types of insurance, risk is shared among ma ...
who tend to experience health claims more than men and female purchasers of
life annuity
A life annuity is an annuity, or series of payments at fixed intervals, paid while the purchaser (or annuitant) is alive. The majority of life annuities are insurance products sold or issued by life insurance companies however substantial case l ...
products, who tend to live longer than men. Naturally it is likely that female drivers and life insurance purchasers, and male health insurance purchasers, will pay more.
The ruling was welcomed by many as a step forward for gender equality and for ending outdated practices but met with some controversy particularly from United Kingdom conservative politicians who felt the court was overstepping its power and in effect making its own legislation.
See also
*
EU law
European Union law is a system of rules operating within the member states of the European Union (EU). Since the founding of the European Coal and Steel Community following World War II, the EU has developed the aim to "promote peace, its val ...
External links
The Test Achats CaseLegal comment on the Test-Achats Case
Court of Justice of the European Union case law
Belgian case law
2011 in case law
2011 in Belgium
Gender equality case law
Insurance case law
Consumer protection case law
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