Reina v. Landeskreditbank Baden-Wurttemberg case brief

Reina v. Landeskreditbank Baden-Wurttemberg

FACTS
-German state had a system of interest free loans provided by a state bank to parents to cover childbirth expenses.  Only couples with at least one German spouse were eligible.
-Policy: to promote German population growth and reduce voluntary abortions.
-P had twins (Italian), sued to obtain loan.

ISSUE:  Was the interest free loan system in which only Germans were eligible void under TFEU 45?

HOLDING:  The court has no powers in the field of demographic policy, and the member states are permitted, in principle, to pursue their achievement of the objectives in such a policy, even by means of social measures.   However, the childbirth loans here are not considered as falling outside the scope of the rules of Community law because they are rooted in the demographic policy.

RULES
Non-Discrimination in Taxation
-Forbids discrimination in regards to tax advantages.
-Issue: frontier worker, living in one member state, but crossing border regularly in order to work in another state.