24The Court has consistently held that social security benefits must be regarded, irrespective of the characteristics peculiar to different national legal systems, as being of the same kind when their purpose and object as well as the basis on which they are calculated and the conditions for granting them are identical (see the judgment in Case 197/85 ONPTS ν Stefanutti [1987] ECR 3855, paragraph 12). On the other hand, characteristics which are purely formal must not be considered relevant criteria for the classification of the benefits (judgment in Van Gastel, cited above, paragraph 10).
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