Case Notes
| Date | 01 March 2010 |
| Published date | 01 March 2010 |
| DOI | 10.1177/1023263X1001700107 |
| Subject Matter | Case Notes |
17 MJ 1 (2010) 91
CASE NOTES
Judgment of the European Court of Justice i n Case C-103/08 Gottwald, 1 October 2009
§1. INTRODUCTION
e right to free movement of EU citizens, and the right not to experience discrimination
on the ground of nationality,1 are bot h fundamental principles of EU law, which have
been recognised in t he Treaties and, extensively, in case law of the European Court
of Justice. B oth principles were at is sue in the case of G ottwald, which concerned a
claim of equal treatment (or equal entitlement) to a national dis ability related benet,
by a d isabled holiday maker from another Member State. All Member States provide a
wide va riety of soc ial benets, or, to use the term found i n Regulation 1612/68, ‘socia l
adv a nta ge s’, 2 to disabled citizens and residents, with a view to promoting their social
and economic integration and compensat ing for disadvantages linked to impai rment or
disability. Such benets ra nge from free or concessionary rates for publ ic transport to
nancial payments and grants. e key question in Gottwald was whether, under EC law,
such a benet also had to be made ava ilable to visitors from other Member St ates who
had the required degree of d isability needed to establish eligibil ity, but who only had a
limited or transient li nk to the Member State providing the benet.
§2. FACTS OF THE CASE
Mr. G ottwald wa s a German c itizen who was ned for not having paid the required
toll (by purchasing a toll disc) when driving his car on t he motorway in Austria.3 Mr.
Gottwald, who had paraplegi a and was oc ially recognised as severely disabled by his
home country, Germany, was visiting Austr ia whilst on holiday.
1 e reference here is to t he principle of non-discrim ination with regard to EU citizens, and does not
refer to the situat ion of third country nat ionals.
2 Art. 7(2), Regul ation (EEC) 1612/68 on freedom of movement for workers within the Community,
[1968] OJ Sp. Ed. L 257/2, p. 475. However, since Mr. Got twald wa s not exercising his rig hts in the
context of free movement of work ers, this Regul ation was not at issue in the c urrent case.
3 Under Law of 2002 on tolls on federa l road s (Bunde sstrassen-Mautgese tz 20 02, B GB1.I, 109/2002,
paragraph 2 0(1)).
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