Pavlov v. Stichting

Compulsory membership of an occupational pension scheme - Compatibility with competition rules -Classification of an occupational pension fund as an undertaking

In Pavlov the Court noted that “the Treaty contains no provisions […] encouraging the members of the liberal professions to conclude collective agreements with a view to improving their terms of employment and working conditions” (§ 69). Consequently, when the self-employed medical experts contribute[d] collectively to a single occupational pension fund, [they] were acting as undertakings” within the meaning of competition law (§ 82). Still, the Court came to the conclusion that the “decision by the members of a profession to set up a pension fund entrusted with the management of a supplementary pension scheme [did] not appreciably restrict competition within the common market.”