“Whereas: (1) 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. … (4) It is necessary to respect the special characteristics of national social security legislation and to draw up only a system of coordination. … (7) Due to the major differences existing between national legislation in terms of the persons covered, it is preferable to lay down the principle that this Regulation is to apply to nationals of a Member State, stateless persons and refugees resident in the territory of a Member State who are or have been subject to the social security legislation of one or more Member States, as well as to the members of their families and to their survivors. (8) The general principle of equal treatment is of particular importance for workers who do not reside in the Member State of their employment, including frontier workers. … (15) It is necessary to subject persons moving within the Community to the social security scheme of only one single Member State in order to avoid overlapping of the applicable provisions of national legislation and the complications which could result therefrom. … (17a) Once the legislation of a Member State becomes applicable to a person under Title II of this Regulation, the conditions for affiliation and entitlement to benefits should be defined by the legislation of the competent Member State while respecting Community law. … (18a) The principle of single applicable legislation is of great importance and should be enhanced. This should not mean, however, that the grant of a benefit alone, in accordance with this Regulation and comprising the payment of insurance contributions or insurance coverage for the beneficiary, renders the legislation of the Member State, whose institution has granted that benefit, the applicable legislation for that person. … Article 1 (Definitions) For the purposes of this Regulation: … (i) ‘member of the family’ means: 1. … 2. … 3. if, under the legislation which is applicable under subparagraphs 1 and 2, a person is considered a member of the family or member of the household only if he/she lives in the same household as the insured person or pensioner, this condition shall be considered satisfied if the person in question is mainly dependent on the insured person or pensioner; … Article 2 (Persons covered) 1. This Regulation shall apply to nationals of a Member State, stateless persons and refugees residing in a Member State who are or have been subject to the legislation of one or more Member States, as well as to the members of their families and to their survivors. … Article 3 (Matters covered) 1. This Regulation shall apply to all legislation concerning the following branches of social security: (a) sickness benefits; (b) maternity and equivalent paternity benefits; (c) invalidity benefits; (d) old-age benefits; (e) survivors’ benefits; (f) benefits in respect of accidents at work and occupational diseases; (g) death grants; (h) unemployment benefits; (i) pre-retirement benefits; (j) family benefits. … 5. This Regulation shall not apply to: (a) social and medical assistance or (b) … Article 4 (Equality of treatment) Unless otherwise provided for by this Regulation, persons to whom this Regulation applies shall enjoy the same benefits and be subject to the same obligations under the legislation of any Member State as the nationals thereof. … Article 7 (Waiving of residence rules) Unless otherwise provided for by this Regulation, cash benefits payable under the legislation of one or more Member States or under this Regulation shall not be subject to any reduction, amendment, suspension, withdrawal or confiscation on account of the fact that the beneficiary or the members of his/her family reside in a Member State other than that in which the institution responsible for providing benefits is situated. … Article 11 (General rules) 1. Persons to whom this Regulation applies shall be subject to the legislation of a single Member State only. Such legislation shall be determined in accordance with this Title. … Article 67 (Members of the family residing in another Member State) A person shall be entitled to family benefits in accordance with the legislation of the competent Member State, including for his/her family members residing in another Member State, as if they were residing in the former Member State. …”
“4. When a person is responsible for a child or qualifying young person (1) Whether a person is responsible for a child or qualifying young person for the purposes of Part 1 of the Act and these Regulations is determined as follows. (2) A person is responsible for a child or qualifying young person who normally lives with them.”
“75. … Regulation 1408/71 does not set up a common scheme of social security, but allows different national social security schemes to exist and its sole objective is to ensure the co-ordination of those schemes: … Thus, according to settled case law, member states retain the power to organise their social security schemes: … 76. Therefore, in the absence of harmonisation at EU level, it is for the legislation of each member state to determine, first the conditions concerning the right or duty to be insured with a social security scheme and, second, the conditions for entitlement to benefits: … 77. In exercising those powers, member states must none the less comply with the law of the European Union and, in particular, with the provisions of the FEU Treaty giving every citizen of the Union the right to move and reside within the territory of the member states: …”
“The designation, as applicable legislation, of the legislation of a member state (known as the competent state or the state of insurance) means that the social security scheme of that member state will apply to the worker concerned. Where appropriate, that worker will pay social contributions in that state and/or receive benefits there if one of the risks covered by that scheme materialises. In accordance with the principle that a single law is applicable, laid down in article 13(1) of Regulation No 1408/71, every worker is subject to one, and to only one, national legislation in social security matters. …”
“57. Regulation No 1408/71 does not set up a common scheme of social security, but allows different national social security schemes to exist and its sole objective is to ensure the co-ordination of those schemes. It thus allows different schemes to continue to exist, creating different claims on different institutions against which the claimant possesses direct rights by virtue either of national law alone or of national law supplemented, where necessary, by EU law: … 58. The provisions of Title II of Regulation No 1408/71, of which article 13 forms part, constitute a complete and uniform system of conflict rules. Those provisions are intended not only to prevent the concurrent application of a number of national legislative systems and the complications which may ensue, but also to ensure that persons covered by Regulation No 1408/71 are not left without social security cover because there is no legislation which is applicable to them: …”
“… [A] benefit may be regarded as a ‘social security benefit’ when two conditions are satisfied, namely (i) in so far as it is granted to recipients, without any individual and discretionary assessment of their personal needs, on the basis of a legally defined position and (ii) provided that it relates to one of the risks expressly listed in Article 3(1) of Regulation No 883/2004 …”
“Although it is possible that because of the classes of persons to which they apply, their objectives and the detailed rules for their application, certain laws may simultaneously contain elements belonging to both the categories mentioned [ie social security and social assistance] and thus defy any general classification, it must be stated that in order to fall within the field of social security covered by Regulation 1408/71 the legislation at issue must in any event satisfy, in particular, the condition of covering one of the risks specified in Article 4(1) of the regulation [Article 3(1) of Regulation 883/2004]. It follows that the list of risks contained in that paragraph is exhaustive and that as a result a branch of social security not mentioned in the list does not fall within that category even if it confers upon individuals a legally defined position entitling them to benefits.”
“As regards its purpose, that allowance is aimed at enabling the workers concerned to provide for themselves following an involuntary loss of employment when they still have the capacity for work. In order to distinguish between different categories of social security benefits, ‘the risk covered’ by each benefit must also be taken into consideration. Thus an unemployment benefit covers the risk associated with the loss of revenue suffered by a worker following the loss of his employment although he is still able to work. A benefit granted if that risk materialises, namely loss of employment, and which is no longer payable if that situation ceases to exist as a result of the claimant’s engaging in paid employment must be regarded as constituting an unemployment benefit.”
“3. The amount of UC received by a claimant will depend on a number of factors which will vary from case to case, depending on individual circumstances. UC is a single payment which comprises a standard allowance (section 9 of the 2012 Act), plus (where applicable) various other elements, such as an amount in respect of responsibility for children (section 10); an amount in respect of housing costs (section 11); and amounts for ‘other particular needs or circumstances’ (section 12), which include a need for payment of childcare costs whilst a single parent or both parents are at work. UC is not a full indemnity. If the claimant is working, it operates as a supplement to their earnings. If the claimant's earnings increase, the amount of UC will be reduced, and vice versa. It is designed to operate flexibly to meet the wide variety of needs and circumstances of those who claim it, including claimants whose earnings fluctuate, and can be adjusted to meet changes in those circumstances as and when they arise. 4. Payment of UC is made in arrears on a monthly basis, in the same way as a monthly salary would usually be paid. It will normally be made within seven days of the last day of the relevant monthly assessment period, which will be fixed by reference to the date on which the individual first makes a claim. That approach applies irrespective of whether the claimant is in or out of work, or moves between the two, and whether his or her earnings are from employment, self-employment, or both. The calculation of entitlement and payment each month creates certainty about what will be received and when. This encourages the recipient to budget on a monthly basis, and is seen as a means of fostering their independence. 5. The system is designed around the core principle of using monthly assessment periods and making a single monthly payment in arrears, after taking into account the claimant’s actual earnings received in that period. This means that different elements of UC that feed into the overall calculation of what is due to a recipient cannot be separated out or paid before the end of the assessment period without upsetting the system and reintroducing the complexity and scope for error that it was designed to overcome.”
“70. It is apparent from the information available to the court that the benefit claimed by CG, namely universal credit, is a cash subsistence benefit under a welfare system funded by taxation, the grant of which is means tested. Its objective is to replace other social benefits, such as income-based jobseeker’s allowance, the income-related employment and support allowance, income support, working tax credit, child tax credit and housing benefit.”
“its objective is to replace several other social benefits which have ceased to exist (or are still in force), like the Jobseeker’s Allowance and Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support, Working Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit and Housing Benefit.”
“117. Since the entry under Point (d) of Section Y (United Kingdom) [of Annex IIa] refers to the legislation governing disability living allowance in its entirety, without mentioning the care and mobility components separately, that entry may also be annulled only in its entirety. 118. Although, by so doing, one annuls from Annex IIa a benefit which partially fulfils the requirements for special benefits, that fact cannot lead to the entry being maintained in its entirety. In the interests of legal certainty, Annex IIa to Regulation No 1408/71 must indicate the benefits which fall within Article 4(2a)(c) of the regulation. The principle of legal certainty requires that the persons concerned must be able to ascertain their rights and obligations from the provision. If the entry were not entirely removed, the recipient of the living allowance, with the exception of the mobility component, would not be in a position to know that that benefit is not in fact a special non-contributory benefit which, in accordance with Article 10a, can be claimed only at the place of residence. 119. It would be open to the legislature, however, to reinstate the mobility component of disability living allowance separately into the annex. Until that happens, the mobility component - even though it satisfies the substantive conditions for a special non-contributory benefit - may not be considered as such. Article 4(2a)(c) of Regulation No 1408/71 imposes the additional requirement of listing in Annex IIa to the regulation.”