Entitlement to a differential supplement in the event of replacement of an IV Swiss disability pension by two old-age pensions of a lower amount, one paid by Switzerland and the other by France

Facts

[C.], born in 1938, of French nationality, was granted a full disability pension in Switzerland as of 1 November 1981. In October 2003, the Swiss Banks Compensation Fund replaced this disability pension with a lower Swiss AHV old-age pension, as well as a French social security old-age pension. The total amount of the two new pensions was lower than the previous disability pension. [C.] then appealed against this decision, concluding that a differential supplement should be paid in accordance with Art. 16 para. 2 of the Franco-Swiss Social Security Convention.

Considerations

The Federal Tribunal ruled that, although the Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons (AFMP) between Switzerland and the EU has in principle suspended the application of bilateral social security conventions, the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union nevertheless allows the more favourable provisions of such a bilateral convention to be applied when the insured person has exercised their right to free movement before the entry into force of the AFMP. In the present case, as [C.] had exercised his right to free movement before 2002, the date of entry into force of the AFMP, he can…