Records about the number of the British Services pensioners, whose pensions have been deducted since 1979, were not kept by government, Social Affairs Minister Michael Farrugia told Parliament last night.

Answering parliamentary questions by Clyde Puli (PN), Dr Farrugia said that the Social Security Department held no data either about the amounts deducted from the contributory pension in these cases.

On March 3, 2016, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) dismissed a case filed against Malta by the European Commission in March 2013 about these pensions. Following warnings in 2009 and 2012, the Commission decided to take Malta to court to force the island to come in line with EU social security law.

The Commission claimed that the Maltese legislation, which provides that the sum of service pensions paid in Malta or abroad should be deducted from statutory old-age pensions “breaches the social security coordination rules of the EU”.

Records about number of British Services pensioners were not kept

The Maltese government disputed this interpretation.

Boosted by a positive opinion by the EU’s Attorney General late last year, expectations among service pensioners were high that the decision would be favourable.

However, the court turned down the Commission’s case on a technicality. The ECJ judges agreed with Malta’s legal arguments that it should not shoulder the blame for the UK’s failure to observe the strict provisions of the EU treaty.

The issue goes back to 1979, when legislation was enacted so that individuals receiving a contributory foreign pension, mainly those with the British Services, had their retirement pension deducted by the amount of the overseas allowance they were entitled to.

The gradual efforts to address the situation started in the 2008 Budget.

Then, the amount of €466 from service pension entitlement was no longer considered to be deducted from the two-thirds pension entitlement.

After this step, another €200 were added annually and, presently, the original amount of €466 standsat €1,866.

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