Facts
The Austrian national [B.] , born in 1941, was employed in Switzerland from 1961 to 1965. He received a half disability pension from the Swiss Federal Disability Insurance (IV) from October 1993 and a full disability pension from October 1997. Upon reaching the age of 65, the disability pension was replaced by a regular old-age pension of CHF 141 (plus supplementary pension for the spouse and child's pension). [B.] filed a complaint against the decision of the Swiss Compensation Office (Ausgleichskasse) regarding the calculation of this old-age pension.Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court dismissed the complaint. It stated that in the calculation of the old-age pension replacing a disability pension, the basis used for the calculation of the disability pension should be applied if this is more advantageous for the beneficiary. However, cases where the income for the old-age pension must be split for the first time in accordance with Art. 29quinquies(3) OASIA and the old-age pension is therefore lower than the previously paid disability pension are not considered replacement cases and are therefore excluded from the guarantee of the existing status. The Federal Supreme Court saw no reason to doubt the legality of the corresponding administrative instructions. The income splitting carried out in connection…