Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:2009:509
Date: 2009-09-03
Language of the case: German
Subject matter: Principles, objectives and tasks of the Treaties;Social Policy;Anti-discrimination
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Germany

Summary of the Judgment Social policy – Equal treatment in employment and occupation – Directive 2000/78 – Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of age (Council Directive 2000/78, Arts 2(2)(a) and 4(1)) Article 4(1) of Directive 2000/78 establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation must be interpreted as not precluding national legislation which sets the maximum age for recruitment to intermediate career posts in the fire service at 30 years. Although it introduces a difference of treatment on grounds of age for the purposes of Article 2(2)(a) of Directive 2000/78, that national legislation may be regarded, first, as appropriate to the objective of ensuring the operational capacity and proper functioning of the professional fire service, which constitutes a legitimate objective within the meaning of Article 4(1) of the directive, and, second, as not going beyond what is necessary to achieve that objective, since the possession of especially high physical capacities may be regarded as a genuine and determining occupational requirement within the meaning of that provision for carrying on the occupation of a person in the intermediate career of the fire service, and the need to possess full physical capacity to carry on that occupation is related to the age of the persons in that career. (see paras 29, 39-41, 44, 46, operative part)