SAVICKIS AND OTHERS v. LATVIA JUDGMENT criteria for entitlements in the employment-based retirement pension system were directly linked to the particular historical, economic and demographic circumstances, that is, the five decades of unlawful occupation and annexation, and the subsequent, particularly difficult situation prevailing in the wake of the restoration of Latvia’s independence. In contrast to the case of Andrejeva, the difference in treatment was limited to periods of employment completed by the applicants outside Latvia, before they settled in Latvia or had any other links with that country (see British Gurkha Welfare Society and Others, cited above, and paragraph 210 above). Only one of the applicants (the third) had been resident in Latvia prior to the period of military service at issue. 217. Fourthly, the impugned difference in treatment neither concerns the applicants’ entitlement to basic pension benefits, accorded under Latvian law irrespective of the individual’s employment history, nor does it entail any deprivation, or other loss, of benefits based on financial contributions made by the applicants in respect of the employment periods in question. 218. Furthermore, with particular regard to the second legitimate aim pursued (see paragraph 196 above), the Court notes that the Latvian system of employment pensions at issue was based on social insurance contributions and functioned according to the principle of solidarity, in the sense that the total amount of contributions collected was used to fund the current disbursement of pensions, payable to all the beneficiaries at a given time. Thus, determining the scope of eligible periods of employment inevitably had an impact on the level of the benefits and the contributions required to fund them. The Court considers that these types of trade-offs in social welfare systems generally call for a wide margin of appreciation. Given the particular difficulties and the complex policy choices facing the Latvian authorities after the restoration of independence, the Court cannot but recognise, in its overall assessment, a substantial degree of deference to be afforded to the Government (see, mutatis mutandis, Vistiņš and Perepjolkins v. Latvia [GC], no. 71243/01, § 113, 25 October 2012). 219. In sum, the Court accepts, in the light of all the above circumstances and the respective margin of appreciation, that the impugned difference in treatment was consistent with the legitimate aims pursued and that the grounds relied upon by the Latvian authorities to justify it can be deemed to amount to very weighty reasons. (v) Conclusion 220. In view of all the above considerations, the Court considers that in the specific circumstances of the present case the respondent State has not overstepped its margin of appreciation with regard to the applicants. The Court thus finds that it must reach a different conclusion from that of the Andrejeva case (see, a contrario, Martinie, cited above § 54). 72