Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:2001:474
Date: 2001-09-20
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Association Agreement;External relations;Free movement of workers
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Germany

Summary of the Judgment 
1. International agreements — Agreements concluded by the Community — Direct 
effect — Conditions — First indent of Article 37(1) of the Association Agreement 
between the Communities and Poland 
(Association Agreement between the Communities and Poland, Art. 37(1), first indent) 
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SUMMARY — CASE C-162/00 
2. International agreements — Association Agreement between the Communities and 
Poland — Workers — Equal treatment — Conditions of employment — Exemp­
tion, exclusively for foreign-language assistants, from the obligation to justify recourse 
to fixed-term contracts of employment by objective reasons — Not permissible 
(Association Agreement between the Communities and Poland, Art. 37(1), first indent) 
3. International agreements — Association Agreement between the Communities and 
Poland — Workers — Equal treatment — First indent of Article 37(1) of the 
Association Agreement — Temporal application 
(Association Agreement between the Communities and Poland, Art. 37(1), first indent) 
1. The first indent of Article 37(1) of the 
Europe Agreement between the Com­
munities and Poland, which lays down, 
in clear, precise and unconditional 
terms, a prohibition preventing each 
Member State from discriminating in 
relation to its own nationals, on 
grounds of their nationality, against 
Polish nationals as far as their con­
ditions of employment, remuneration 
and dismissal are concerned, has direct 
effect. This rule of equal treatment lays 
down a precise obligation to produce a 
specific result and, by its nature, can be 
relied on by an individual to apply to a 
national court to set aside the discrimi­
natory provisions of a Member State's 
legislation, without any further imple­
menting measures being required for 
that purpose. 
(see paras 21, 22, 30, 45, 
and operative part 1) 
2. The first indent of Article 37(1) of the 
Europe Agreement, which lays down a 
prohibition preventing each Member 
State from discriminating in relation to 
its own nationals, on grounds of their 
nationality, against Polish nationals as 
far as their conditions of employment, 
remuneration and dismissal are con­
cerned, precludes the application to 
Polish nationals of a national provision 
according to which positions for 
foreign-language assistants may be fil­
led by means of fixed-term contracts of 
employment, whereas, for other teach­
ing staff performing special duties, 
recourse to such contracts must be 
individually justified by an objective 
reason. 
(see para. 45, and operative part 1) 
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POKRZEPTOWICZ-MEYER 
3. The first indent of Article 37(1) of the 
Europe Agreement, which lays down a 
prohibition preventing each Member 
State from discriminating in relation to 
its own nationals, on grounds of their 
nationality, against Polish nationals as 
far as their conditions of employment, 
remuneration and dismissal are con­
cerned, applies, from the date of entry 
into force of that agreement, to a 
fixed-term contract of employment 
which was concluded prior to the date 
of its entry into force but which is due 
to expire after that date. 
(see para. 57, and operative part 2) 
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