monthly salaries between wage of EUR 485 and EUR 1,000. Similar measures will apply to all State
Owned Enterprises classified inside or outside the perimeter of the government sector, and in any other
public entity even if falling outside the perimeter of the government sector.’ I
The Portuguese Budget Act for 2012 raised the public wages cut threshold to EUR
1,100 for suspending both the 13th and 14th monthly salaries, and to between EUR 600
and EUR 1,100 for implementing the progressive suspension [Article 21 of Law 64B/2011, of 30 December 2011 (State Budget Act for 2012)]. The amendment was accepted
by the Commission and the ECB because the rise in State expenditures was compensated
by revenue obtained through an increase in the tax rate applicable to capital gains and
investment income (e. g. dividends and interest payments).II
In Fidelidade Mundial and Via Directa, a Portuguese union – the Sindicato Nacional dos
Profissionais de Seguros e Afins (National Union of Insurance Professionals) – sought the
restitution of the collectively agreed holiday and Christmas allowances that were suspended
by the State Budget Act for 2012 in State owned insurance enterprises. The referring courts
– the Tribunal do Trabalho de Lisboa and the Tribunal do Trabalho do Porto (Lisbon and Oporto
Labour Courts) – questioned the Court of Justice as to whether these measures breached
fundamental rights protected by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU (Charter),
namely the rights to equality and non-discrimination [Articles 20 and 21 (1)] and to fair and
just working conditions [Article 31 (1)].III
On 26 June and 21 October 2014, the Court of Justice declared the references
inadmissible based on its lack of jurisdiction for reviewing national law vis-à-vis the
Charter.IV The Luxembourg court claimed that the austerity measures included in the State
Budget for 2012 were outside its jurisdiction, which solely relates to matters falling within
EU competence. The Court recalled an earlier decision from 7 March 2013 in which it had
already rejected on the same grounds of inadmissibility a Portuguese preliminary reference
that challenged a similar austerity measure included in the State Budget Act for 2011.V
In Sindicato dos Bancários do Norte, the Court declared that in accordance with its settled
case-law, the requirements flowing from the protection of fundamental rights within the
EU legal order are only binding on Member States when they are implementing EU law
[Article 51 (1) of the Charter]. Moreover, Article 6 (1) of the Treaty of the European Union
(TEU) that provides that while the Charter is binding it neither creates new EU
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