Facts
E. F., born on November 9, 1935 and domiciled in Germany, was awarded an ordinary old-age pension by the Swiss Compensation Fund (CSC) as of December 1, 1997. Her husband, H. F., born on January 17, 1935, obtained a full disability pension as of June 1, 1998. When H. F. reached the AHV age on February 1, 2000, the disability pension was replaced by an old-age pension. E. F. then requested to waive her own old-age pension to allow the payment of a supplementary pension to her husband's old-age pension. This request was rejected by the Federal Appeals Commission for the AHV/IV for persons domiciled abroad.Considerations
According to the consistent case law of the Federal Court, renunciation of benefits from the old-age and survivors' insurance or the disability insurance can only be made exceptionally, provided that the beneficiary of the benefits has a legitimate interest worthy of protection and that the renunciation does not prejudice the interests of other persons involved (including the AHV and IV). In the present case, such a legitimate interest worthy of protection was not recognized for the wife, as this would have called into question the objectives of the 10th revision of the AHV, in particular the gradual abolition of supplementary pensions and equal treatment between men and women.
Although Art.…