Case C‑614/11

Niederösterreichische Landes-Landwirtschaftskammer

v

Anneliese Kuso

(Request for a preliminary ruling from the Oberster Gerichtshof)

‛Social policy — Equal treatment for men and women — Directive 76/207/EEC — Fixed-term employment contract concluded prior to the accession of the Member State — Expiry of the fixed term after the accession — Employment legislation fixing the expiry date for the contract as the last day of the year in which retirement age is reached — Retirement age for men different from the age set for women’

Summary — Judgment of the Court (Fifth Chamber), 12 September 2013

Social policy — Male and female workers — Access to employment and working conditions — Equal treatment — Directive 76/207 — National legislation consisting of a body of employment rules which form an integral part of an employment contract concluded before the accession of the Member State concerned — Body of employment rules proving that the employment relationship is to come to an end upon attainment of the fixed retirement age — Pensionable age differs depending on sex — Direct discrimination on grounds of sex — Unlawful — Attainment of retirement age after accession — No effect on the applicability of Directive 76/207

(Council Directive 76/207, Art. 3(1)(c))

Article 3(1)(c) of Directive 76/207 on the implementation of the principle of equal treatment for men and women as regards access to employment, vocational training and promotion, and working conditions, as amended by Directive 2002/73, must be interpreted as meaning that national legislation, consisting of a body of employment rules which form an integral part of an employment contract concluded before the Member State concerned acceded to the European Union and under which the employment relationship is to come to an end upon attainment of the fixed retirement age, which differs depending on whether the employee is a man or a woman, constitutes discrimination prohibited by that directive where the employee concerned reaches that age after the accession.

(see paras 27, 53, operative part)

Case C‑614/11

Niederösterreichische Landes-Landwirtschaftskammer

v

Anneliese Kuso

(Request for a preliminary ruling from the Oberster Gerichtshof)

‛Social policy — Equal treatment for men and women — Directive 76/207/EEC — Fixed-term employment contract concluded prior to the accession of the Member State — Expiry of the fixed term after the accession — Employment legislation fixing the expiry date for the contract as the last day of the year in which retirement age is reached — Retirement age for men different from the age set for women’

Summary — Judgment of the Court (Fifth Chamber), 12 September 2013

Social policy — Male and female workers — Access to employment and working conditions — Equal treatment — Directive 76/207 — National legislation consisting of a body of employment rules which form an integral part of an employment contract concluded before the accession of the Member State concerned — Body of employment rules proving that the employment relationship is to come to an end upon attainment of the fixed retirement age — Pensionable age differs depending on sex — Direct discrimination on grounds of sex — Unlawful — Attainment of retirement age after accession — No effect on the applicability of Directive 76/207

(Council Directive 76/207, Art. 3(1)(c))

Article 3(1)(c) of Directive 76/207 on the implementation of the principle of equal treatment for men and women as regards access to employment, vocational training and promotion, and working conditions, as amended by Directive 2002/73, must be interpreted as meaning that national legislation, consisting of a body of employment rules which form an integral part of an employment contract concluded before the Member State concerned acceded to the European Union and under which the employment relationship is to come to an end upon attainment of the fixed retirement age, which differs depending on whether the employee is a man or a woman, constitutes discrimination prohibited by that directive where the employee concerned reaches that age after the accession.

(see paras 27, 53, operative part)