Parental allowance is a social insurance benefit which is provided for care of children. Parental allowance relating to the birth of a child is provided for not more than 480 days in total for the parents. In the event a parent has, pursuant to foreign legislation, received a benefit comparable to parental allowance relating to the birth of a child, the maximum number of days with parental allowance is reduced taking into account the time for which the foreign benefit was provided.
In the case The Swedish Social Insurance Agency decided to deduct the number of days with parental allowance for the child. The reason for this was that the other parent had received maternity and parental allowance from Finland. However, the Administrative Court and the Administrative Court of Appeal stated that the fact that the Finnish benefits in the application of the EU law regime within the area have been ascribed to a category of benefits other than the Swedish parental allowance meant that the Finnish benefits are not such benefits comparable to Swedish parental allowance.
The Supreme Administrative Court stated that the deduction provision in Chapter 12, section 33 is not intended to adapt Swedish law to Union law but, rather, is a purely national provision which may be applied in respect of benefits from any other country. According to the Court, neither the wording of the provision nor the statements made in the preparatory works support the notion that the EU law classification is decisive as to whether a foreign benefit may be deemed to be comparable to Swedish parental allowance as regards benefits which are provided from another Member State. The question regarding whether a foreign benefit is comparable to Swedish parental allowance, even as regards benefits from other Member States, must be determined on the basis of an overall assessment of the similarities and differences between the foreign benefit and the Swedish parental allowance. Furthermore, the Court found that the Finnish benefits may be deemed to constitute such benefits pursuant to foreign legislation which are comparable to Swedish parental allowance and that the maximum number of days with parental allowance would thus be reduced.