Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:2010:487
Date: 2010-09-02
Language of the case: Bulgarian
Subject matter: Principles, objectives and tasks of the Treaties;Social Policy;Anti-discrimination
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Bulgaria

Summary of the Judgment Social policy – Equal treatment in employment and occupation – Directive 2000/78 – Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of age – University lecturers (Council Directive 2000/78, Art. 6(1)) Council Directive 2000/78 establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation, in particular Article 6(1) thereof, must be interpreted as meaning that it does not preclude national legislation under which university professors are compulsorily retired when they reach the age of 68 and may continue working beyond the age of 65 only by means of fixed-term one-year contracts renewable at most twice, provided that that legislation pursues a legitimate aim linked to, in particular, employment and labour market policy, such as the delivery of quality teaching and the best possible allocation of posts for professors between the generations, and makes it possible to achieve that aim by appropriate and necessary means. It is for the national court to determine whether those conditions are satisfied. This being a dispute between a public institution and an individual, if national legislation does not satisfy the conditions set out in Article 6(1) of Directive 2000/78, the national court must decline to apply that legislation. (see paras 68, 73, operative part)