Apr 7, 2008

C-267/06 Maruko

Same-sex couples score victory on pension rights

(EUObserver)

The EU's top court has boosted the rights of same-sex couples, after ruling that a person is entitled to their dead partner's pension in all EU states that treat homosexual partnerships similarly to marriages.

The ruling by the European Court of Justice, announced on Tuesday (1 April), comes in response to a case triggered by a German citizen, Tadao Maruko, in 2005. After Mr Maruko's partner died, a German pension fund refused to pay him any survivor's benefits, claiming that only married couples have a right to a widower's pension. But the Luxembourg-based court found that this violated EU law, outlining a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation.

Read more: EUobserver

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