CELEX: C1998/184/06
Language: en
Date: 1998-06-13 00:00:00
Title: Reference for a preliminary ruling by the House of Lords, by order of that Court of 5 February 1998, in the case of Preston and others against Wolverhampton Healthcare NHS Trust and others, and Fletcher and others against Midland Bank plc (Case C-78/98)

C 184/4               EN                  Official Journal of the European Communities                                      13.6.98
2. Orders the Federal Republic of Germany to pay the                                   ORDER OF THE COURT
     costs.                                                                                  of 2 April 1998
                                                                     in Case C-188/97 P: Lars Bo Rasmussen v. Commission of
(1) OJ C 74, 8.3.1997.                                                                the European Communities (1)
                                                                     (Officials Ð Vacancy notice Ð Annulment of the
                                                                     procedure under way Ð Competition notice Ð Post
                                                                        reserved to nationals of new Member States Ð Appeal)
                                                                                              (98/C 184/05)
               JUDGMENT OF THE COURT                                                 (Language of the case: French)
                       (First Chamber)
                                                                       (Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be
                       of 30 April 1998                                        published in the European Court Reports)
in Case C-215/97: (reference for a preliminary ruling from
the Tribunale, Bologna): Barbara Bellone v. Yokohama                 In Case C-188/97 P: Lars Bo Rasmussen, an official of the
                            SpA (1)                                  Commission of the European Communities, residing at
                                                                     Dalheim, Luxembourg, represented by Carlo Revoldini, of
(Directive 86/653/EEC Ð Independent commercial agents                the Luxembourg Bar, with an address for service in
Ð National rules providing that commercial agency                    Luxembourg at the Chambers of the latter, 180, Route de
contracts concluded by persons not entered on the register           Longwy, Luxembourg Ð appeal against the judgment of
                      of agents are void)                            the Court of First Instance of the European Communities
                                                                     (Fifth Chamber) of 18 March 1997 in Case T-35/96
                        (98/C 184/04)                                Rasmussen v. Commission [1997] ECR-SC II-187 seeking
                                                                     to have that judgment set aside, the other party to the
                                                                     proceedings being Commission of the European
                (Language of the case: Italian)                      Communities (Agents: Julian Currall, assisted by Alberto
                                                                     Dal Ferro) Ð the Court, composed of M. Wathelet,
                                                                     President of the Chamber, P. Jann (Rapporteur) and L.
                                                                     Sevón, Judges; D. Ruiz-Jarabo Colomer, Advocate-
                                                                     General; R. Grass, Registrar, made an order on 2 April
  (Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be       1998, the operative part of which is as follows:
          published in the European Court Reports)
                                                                     1. The appeal is dismissed.
In Case C-215/97: reference to the Court under Article 177           2. The appellant is ordered to pay the costs.
of the EC Treaty from the Tribunale, Bologna (Italy) for a
preliminary ruling in the proceedings pending before that
court between Barbara Bellone and Yokohama SpA Ð on                  (1) OJ C 212, 12.7.1997.
the interpretation of Council Directive 86/653/EEC of
18 December 1986 on the coordination of the laws of the
Member States relating to self-employed commercial
agents (OJ L 382 of 31.12.1986, p. 17) Ð the Court (First
Chamber), composed of M. Wathelet, President of the
Chamber, P. Jann (Rapporteur) and L. Sevón, Judges; G.               Reference for a preliminary ruling by the House of Lords,
Cosmas, Advocate-General; R. Grass, Registrar, has given             by order of that Court of 5 February 1998, in the case of
a judgment on 30 April 1998, in which it has ruled:                  Preston and others against Wolverhampton Healthcare
                                                                     NHS Trust and others, and Fletcher and others against
                                                                                            Midland Bank plc
Council Directive 86/653/EEC of 18 December 1986 on                                          (Case C-78/98)
the coordination of the laws of the Member States relating
                                                                                              (98/C 184/06)
to self-employed commercial agents precludes a national
rule which makes the validity of an agency contract
conditional upon the commercial agent being entered in               Reference has been made to the Court of Justice of the
the appropriate register.                                            European Communities by an order of the House of
                                                                     Lords, of 5 February 1998, which was received at the
(1) OJ C 228, 26.7.1997.                                             Court Registry on 23 March 1998, for a preliminary
                                                                     ruling in the case of Preston and others against
                                                                     Wolverhampton Healthcare NHS Trust and others, and
                                                                     Fletcher and others against Midland Bank plc, on the
                                                                     following questions:
 ---pagebreak--- 13.6.98               EN                  Official Journal of the European Communities                                   C 184/5
Where:                                                                   (1) Does the implementation of Article 119 through
                                                                               that domestic statute constitute compliance with
                                                                               the principle of EC law that national procedural
(a) a claimant has been excluded from membership of an                         rules for a breach of Community law must be no
     occupational pension scheme by reason of being a                          less favourable than those which apply to similar
     part-time worker; and                                                     claims of a domestic nature?
(b) consequently, has not accrued pension benefits                       (2) If not, what are the relevant criteria for
     referable to service with her employer, which benefits                    determining whether another right of action in
     become payable upon reaching pensionable age; and                         domestic law is a domestic action similar to the
                                                                               right under Article 119?
(c)  the claimant alleges that such treatment is indirect
                                                                         (3) If a national court identifies any such similar
     sex discrimination contrary to Article 119 of the EC
                                                                               claim in accordance with any criteria identified
     Treaty,
                                                                               under (2) above, what, if any, are the relevant
                                                                               criteria under Community law for determining
The following three questions arise:                                           whether the procedural rules governing the
                                                                               similar claim or claims are more favourable than
                                                                               the procedural rules which govern the
1.   Is:                                                                       enforcement of the right under Article 119?
     (a) a national procedural rule which requires that a            3.  In circumstances where:
           claim for membership of an occupational
           pension scheme (from which the right to pension
           benefits flows) which is brought in the Industrial            (a) an employee has served under a number of
           Tribunal be brought within six months of the                        separate contracts of employment for the same
           end of the employment to which the claim                            employer covering defined periods of time and
           relates;                                                            with intervals between the periods covered by
                                                                               the contracts of employment;
     (b) a national procedural rule which provides that a
           claimant's pensionable service is to be calculated            (b) after the completion of any contract, there is no
           only by reference to service after a date falling                   obligation on either party to enter into further
           no earlier than two years prior to the date of her                  such contracts; and
           claim (irrespective of whether the date on which
           pension benefits become payable is before or
           after the date of the claim)                                  (c)   she initiates a claim within six months of the
                                                                               completion of a later contract or contracts but
                                                                               fails to initiate a claim within six months of any
     compatible with the principle of EC law that national                     earlier contract or contracts;
     procedural rules for breach of Community law must
     not make it excessively difficult or impossible in
     practice for the claimant to exercise her rights under              Is a national procedural rule which has the effect of
     Article 119?                                                        requiring a claim for membership of an occupational
                                                                         pension scheme from which the right to pension
                                                                         benefits flow to be brought within six months of the
2.   In circumstances where:                                             end of any contract or contracts of employment to
                                                                         which the claim relates and which, therefore,
     (a) rights under Article 119 fall, as a matter of                   prevents service under any earlier contract or
           domestic law, to be enforced through the                      contracts from being treated as pensionable service,
           medium of a statute which was enacted in 1970,                compatible with:
           prior to the United Kingdom's accession to the
           European Community, and came into effect on                   (1) the right to equal pay for equal work in
           29th December 1975, and which, prior to 8th                         Article 119 of the EC Treaty; and
           April 1976, already conferred a right to equal
           pay and equality of other contractual provisions;
                                                                         (2) the principle of EC law that national procedural
                                                                               rules for breach of Community law must not
     (b) the domestic statute contains the procedural
                                                                               make it excessively difficult or impossible in
           rules referred to in question 1 above;
                                                                               practice for the claimant to exercise her rights
                                                                               under Article 119?
     (c)   other statutes prohibiting discrimination in the
           employment field, and the domestic law of
           contract provide for different time limits;