Judgment of the Court (Fourth Chamber) of 4 July 2013 — Commission v Italy

(Case C-312/11)

‛Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations — Directive 2000/78/EC — Article 5 — Establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation — Persons with disabilities — Insufficient implementing measures’

1. Social policy — Equal treatment in employment and occupation — Directive 2000/78 — Prohibition of discrimination on the ground of disability — Notion of ‘handicapped persons’ — Persons limited in their full and effective participation in professional life as a result, inter alia, of durable physical, mental or psychological impairments and their confrontation with various barriers (Council Directive 2000/78, Art. 5) (see paras 56, 57)

2. Social policy — Equal treatment in employment and occupation — Directive 2000/78 — Provision of reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities — Meaning — Measures adopted as required in concrete situations with a view to eliminating various barriers which prevent the full and effective participation of handicapped persons in professional life (Council Directive 2000/78, Art. 5) (see paras 58, 59)

3. Social policy — Equal treatment in employment and occupation — Directive 2000/78 — Provision of reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities — Obligation of the Member States to require all employers to make provision for reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities — Transposition of that obligation by the adoption of public aid and incentive measures — Not permissible (Council Directive, Art. 5) (see paras 60-62, 67)

Re:

Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations — Failure to take, within the prescribed period, all the provisions necessary to comply with Article 5 of Council Directive 2000/78/EC of 27 November 2000 establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation (OJ 2000 L 303, p. 16) — National legislation providing for the application of that article through various measures, the application of which is itself dependent on the currently purely theoretical adoption of further measures — Insufficient guarantees and adjustments.

Operative part

The Court:

1. Declares that, by not introducing a requirement for all employers to make reasonable adjustments, where needed in a particular case, for all persons with disabilities, the Italian Republic has failed to fulfil its obligation to ensure the correct and full implementation of Article 5 of Council Directive 2000/78/EC of 27 November 2000 establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation;

2. Orders the Italian Republic to pay the costs.

Judgment of the Court (Fourth Chamber) of 4 July 2013 — Commission v Italy

(Case C-312/11)

‛Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations — Directive 2000/78/EC — Article 5 — Establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation — Persons with disabilities — Insufficient implementing measures’

1. Social policy — Equal treatment in employment and occupation — Directive 2000/78 — Prohibition of discrimination on the ground of disability — Notion of ‘handicapped persons’ — Persons limited in their full and effective participation in professional life as a result, inter alia, of durable physical, mental or psychological impairments and their confrontation with various barriers (Council Directive 2000/78, Art. 5) (see paras 56, 57)

2. Social policy — Equal treatment in employment and occupation — Directive 2000/78 — Provision of reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities — Meaning — Measures adopted as required in concrete situations with a view to eliminating various barriers which prevent the full and effective participation of handicapped persons in professional life (Council Directive 2000/78, Art. 5) (see paras 58, 59)

3. Social policy — Equal treatment in employment and occupation — Directive 2000/78 — Provision of reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities — Obligation of the Member States to require all employers to make provision for reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities — Transposition of that obligation by the adoption of public aid and incentive measures — Not permissible (Council Directive, Art. 5) (see paras 60-62, 67)

Re:

Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations — Failure to take, within the prescribed period, all the provisions necessary to comply with Article 5 of Council Directive 2000/78/EC of 27 November 2000 establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation (OJ 2000 L 303, p. 16) — National legislation providing for the application of that article through various measures, the application of which is itself dependent on the currently purely theoretical adoption of further measures — Insufficient guarantees and adjustments.

Operative part

The Court:

1. Declares that, by not introducing a requirement for all employers to make reasonable adjustments, where needed in a particular case, for all persons with disabilities, the Italian Republic has failed to fulfil its obligation to ensure the correct and full implementation of Article 5 of Council Directive 2000/78/EC of 27 November 2000 establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation;