Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Court of Appeal (United Kingdom) made on 16 January 2017 – Grenville Hampshire v The Board of the Pension Protection Fund

(Case C-17/17)

Language of the case: English

Referring court

Court of Appeal

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicant: Grenville Hampshire

Defendant: The Board of the Pension Protection Fund

Questions referred

Does Article 8 of Directive 80/987/EEC¹ (now superseded by Article 8 of Directive 2008/94/EC² ) require member states to ensure that every individual employee receives at least 50% of the value of his accrued entitlement to old-age benefits in the event that his employer becomes insolvent (with the sole exception of cases of abuse, to which Article 10(a) of that Directive applies)?

Alternatively, subject to the findings of the national courts regarding the facts of the case, is it sufficient under Article 8 of Directive 80/987/EEC for a member state to have a system of protection where employees usually receive more than 50% of the value of their accrued entitlement to old-age benefits but some individual employees receive less than 50% by virtue of:

(i) a financial cap on the amount of compensation paid to employees (in particular employees who have not reached their pension scheme’s normal pension age at the time of the employer’s insolvency); and/or

(ii) rules limiting the annual increases in the compensation paid to employees or the annual revaluation of their entitlements prior to pension age?

Is Article 8 of Directive 80/987/EEC directly effective in the circumstances of the present case?

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¹ Council Directive 80/987/EEC of 20 October 1980 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the protection of employees in the event of the insolvency of their employer (OJ 1980, L 283, p. 23).

² Directive 2008/94/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2008 on the protection of employees in the event of the insolvency of their employer (OJ 2008, L 283, p. 36).