The Rt. Hon. Sir John Major KG CH

Prime Minister of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 1990-1997

1991Prime Minister (1990-1997)

PMQT Written Answers – 10 July 1991

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Below is the text of the written answers relating to Prime Minister’s Question Time from 10th July 1991.

PRIME MINISTER:

Pension Age

Mr. Andrew Bowden : To ask the Prime Minister what representations he has made to the President of the European Commission regarding the Barber judgment and the extent to which retrospection will be limited when the judgment is applied; and if he will place a copy of his letter in the Library.

The Prime Minister : I have written to President Delors twice on this matter; first to express my concern about the financial and economic implications of the European Court of Justice’s judgment in the Barber case; and then to inform him about the statement made by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Social Security on 26 June at columns 997-1006.

The extent of the retrospective effect of the judgment is one of the aspects on which clarification is being sought from the European Court. We shall argue before the court that the judgment does not apply to benefits based on service before the date of the judgment. It is not my usual practice to publish correspondence of this kind.