14At first instance, Mr Beune's claims were upheld. The ABP appealed to the Centrale Raad van Beroep, which stayed proceedings and referred the following questions to the Court:(1) Is a statutory scheme with regard to old-age within the meaning of Article 3(1 )(a) of Directive 79/7/EEC to be construed as covering, inter alia, a statutory pension scheme (chiefly) for civil servants of the kind laid down in the ABPW (Algemene Burgerlijke Pensioenwet — General Civil Pension Law)?(2) If so, is the principle of equal treatment laid down in Article 4(1) of that directive to be interpreted as conflicting with the existence of differing rules for the combination of the general pension (AOW — Algemene Ouderdomswet (General Law on Old Age Insurance)) and the civil service pension applying to (retired) married male civil servants, on the one hand, and to (retired) married female civil servants, on the other?(3) If Questions 1 and 2 are answered in the affirmative, is a retired male civil servant entitled, in the absence of a national rule abolishing the unequal treatment referred to above, to base a claim on the provisions of Directive 79/7/EEC to the effect that, as far as his entitlement to a civil service pension is concerned, he should be treated in the same way as a married female civil servant who is otherwise in the same circumstances as he?(4) Does the principle of equal treatment referred to in Question 3 have the effect that the inequality of pension entitlements as between married male and female civil servants as is at issue in this case is annulled as from 23 December 1984 even in so far as the entitlement to pension is based on periods (that is to say, periods of service as a civil servant) prior to that date?Is a factor not considered in the judgments of 11 July 1991 in Joined Cases C-87/90, C-88/90 and C-89/90 Verholen and Others v Sociale Verzekerings bank, of 8 March 1988 in Case 80/87 Dik and Others v College van Burgemeester en Wethouders [1988] ECR 1601 and of 24 June 1987 in Case 384/85 Borrie Clarke v Chief Adjudication Officer [1987] ECR 2865, namely that the ABPW pension scheme is financed by capital cover (kapitaaldekking), also of relevance in this connection?In the event that the Court of Justice should answer Question 1 in the negative, the Centrale Raad van Beroep asks it to leave aside Questions 2, 3 and 4 and to answer the following questions:(5) Is the term “pay” in Article 119 of the EEC Treaty to be understood as covering inter alia an old-age pension (chiefly) for civil servants as provided for in the Netherlands ABPW?(6) If Question 5 is answered in the affirmative and it must be inferred therefrom that the existence of differing rules applying to (retired) married male civil servants and (retired) married female civil servants as regards the combination of the general pension (AOW) and the civil service pension conflicts with the principle of equal pay for men and women enshrined in Article 119 of the EEC Treaty, can a male civil servant rely on that principle so as to ensure that he is treated in the same way as a married female civil servant as regards his pension entitlement?(7) Are there points of reference to be found in Community law which, in the event that Questions 5 and 6 are answered in the affirmative, enable the effects of the infringement of Community law to be limited both as regards the period as from when a claim to equal treatment can be asserted and as regards the periods during which the pension entitlement was built up?Is it relevant for the purpose of answering this question that the pension scheme at issue is financed by capital cover (kapitaaldekking)?’
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