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In those circumstances, the Verwaltungsgericht Berlin decided to stay the proceedings and to refer the following questions to the Court for a preliminary ruling: ‘(1) Is European primary and/or secondary law, here in particular Directive 2000/78, to be interpreted as a comprehensive prohibition of unjustified age discrimination, such that it also covers national rules on the remuneration of Land judges? (2) If Question 1 is answered in the affirmative: does that interpretation of European primary and/or secondary law mean that a national provision under which the level of basic pay of a judge upon first appointment as a judge, and subsequent increases in that basic pay, are dependent on his age constitutes direct or indirect age discrimination? (3) If Question 2 is also answered in the affirmative: does that interpretation of European primary and/or secondary law preclude the justification of such a national provision by the legislative aim of rewarding professional experience and/or interpersonal skills? (4) If Question 3 is also answered in the affirmative: does that interpretation of European primary and/or secondary law, where a non-discriminatory right to remuneration has not been implemented, permit a legal consequence other than retrospective remuneration of those discriminated against at the highest pay step in their pay grade? Does the legal consequence of infringement of the prohibition of discrimination in that case follow from European primary and/or secondary law itself, here in particular Directive 2000/78, or does the claim of the person discriminated against follow only from application of the principle, recognised under EU law, that Member States are liable for failure correctly to implement the provisions of EU law? (5) Does the interpretation of European primary and/or secondary law preclude a national measure which makes the claim to (retrospective) payment or compensation dependent on the judges’ having enforced that claim in a relatively short period of time? (6) If Questions 1 to 3 are answered in the affirmative: does it follow from that interpretation of European primary and/or secondary law that a transitional law — under which existing judges are placed on a step under the new system solely according to the amount of the basic pay they received under the old (discriminatory) remuneration system on the date of transition to the new system, and under which further progression to higher steps is subsequently calculated essentially according to the periods of experience acquired since the entry into force of the transitional law, irrespective of the judge’s total period of experience — constitutes a perpetuation of the existing age discrimination, continuing until the highest pay step is reached in each case? (7) If Question 6 is also answered in the affirmative: does that interpretation of European primary and/or secondary law preclude justification of this continuation of the original difference in treatment by the legislative aim whereby the transitional law is to protect not (only) the acquired rights of existing judges existing on the transition date but (also) the expectation of the lifetime income in the respective pay grade that was forecast to be paid under the old system of remuneration, and new judges are to be paid better than existing judges? Can the continuing discrimination against existing judges be justified by the fact that the alternative (individual placement also of existing judges according to length of experience) would, in administrative terms, be more difficult to implement? (8) If such justification is rejected in Question 7: does that interpretation of European primary and/or secondary law permit, until a non-discriminatory right to remuneration has been implemented also for existing judges, a legal consequence other than retrospective and continuing remuneration of existing judges at the highest pay step in their pay grade? (9) If Questions 1 to 3 are answered in the affirmative and Question 6 is answered in the negative: does it follow from that interpretation of European primary and/or secondary law that a law providing for the reclassification of judges under a new system of remuneration which secures faster pay progression from a certain pay step onwards for existing judges who had reached a certain age at the time of transition to the new system than for existing judges who were younger on the transition date constitutes direct or indirect age discrimination? (10) If Question 9 is answered in the affirmative: does that interpretation of European primary and/or secondary law preclude this difference in treatment being justified by the legislative aim of protecting not the acquired rights existing on the date of transition to the new system but only the expectation of existing judges of their lifetime income in the respective pay grade that was forecast to be paid under the old system of remuneration? (11) If such justification is rejected in Question 10: does that interpretation of European primary and/or secondary law permit, until a non-discriminatory right to remuneration has been implemented also for existing judges, a legal consequence other than that of securing — retrospectively and on a continuing basis — the same pay progression for all existing judges as that enjoyed by the favoured judges referred to in Question 9?’