Vol 18 (2021) - Issue 3

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C-168/18 Pensions-Sicherungs-Verein VVaG v Günther Bauer

Synopsis
In Pensions-Sicherungs-Verein VVaG v Bauer [2019] (Case C-168/18), the European Court of Justice ('the ECJ', or 'the Court') ruled on certain questions referred by the German Federal Labour Court concerning the interpretation and application of Article 8 of Directive 2008/94/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2008 on the Protection of Employees in the Event of the Insolvency of their Employer. The Court clarified the obligations on Member States to protect the accrued pension entitlements of employees in the event of the insolvency of a former employer. A Member State was not necessarily obliged to compensate a former employee for all losses, but was required to ensure that any reduction in pension benefits was not manifestly disproportionate – which would occur where the former employee was 'at-riskof-poverty threshold determined by Eurostat for the Member State concerned'. The Court also considered the circumstances in which the obligations of Article 8 could be relied upon directly in proceedings brought by individuals against a Member State.