Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:2005:6
Date: 2005-01-11
Language of the case: Spanish
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: Spain

Summary of the Judgment 1. International agreements — Community agreements — Direct effect — Article 23(1) of the Communities-Russia Partnership Agreement (Communities-Russia Partnership Agreement, Art. 23(1)) 2. International agreements — Communities-Russia Partnership Agreement — Workers — Equal treatment — Working conditions — Rule drawn up by a sports federation of a Member State which limits the number of professional players from non-member countries who may take part in national competitions — Not permissible (Communities-Russia Partnership Agreement, Art. 23(1)) 1. Inasmuch as it lays down, in clear, precise and unconditional terms, a prohibition precluding any Member State from discriminating, on grounds of nationality, against Russian workers, vis-à-vis that State’s own nationals, so far as their conditions of employment, remuneration and dismissal are concerned, Article 23(1) of the Agreement on partnership and cooperation establishing a partnership between the European Communities and their Member States, of one part, and the Russian Federation, of the other part, has direct effect, with the result that individuals to whom that provision applies are entitled to rely on it before the courts of the Member States. (see paras 22, 29) 2. Article 23(1) of the Agreement on partnership and cooperation establishing a partnership between the European Communities and their Member States, of one part, and the Russian Federation, of the other part, precludes the application to a professional sportsman of Russian nationality, who is lawfully employed by a club established in a Member State, of a rule drawn up by a sports federation of that State which provides that clubs may field in competitions organised at national level only a limited number of players from countries which are not parties to the Agreement on the European Economic Area. (see para. 41, operative part)