CELEX: C2000/163/06
Language: en
Date: 2000-06-10 00:00:00
Title: Judgment of the Court (Sixth Chamber) of 30 March 2000 in Case C-236/98 (reference for a preliminary ruling from the Arbetsdomstolen): Jämställdhetsombudsmannen v Örebro läns landsting (Social policy — Male and female workers — Equal pay for work of equal value — Article 119 of the EC Treaty (Articles 117 to 120 of the EC Treaty have been replaced by Articles 136 EC to 143 EC) — Directive 75/117/EEC — Comparison of a midwife's pay with that of a clinical technician — Taking into account a supplement and a reduction in working time for inconvenient working hours)

C 163/4               EN                     Official Journal of the European Communities                                          10.6.2000
(Netherlands), represented by G. van der Wal, of the Brussels                            JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
bar, with an address for service in Luxembourg at the
Chambers of A. May, 398 Route d’Esch — Appeal against the
judgment of the Court of First Instance of the European                                           (Sixth Chamber)
Communities (Second Chamber, Extended Composition) of
14 May 1997 in Case T-77/94 VGB and Others v Commission
[1997] ECR II-759, seeking to have that judgment set aside,                                      of 30 March 2000
the other parties to the proceedings being Vereniging van
Groothandelaren in Bloemkwekerijproducten (VGB), Florimex               in Case C-236/98 (reference for a preliminary ruling from
BV, Inkoop Service Aalsmeer BV and M. Verhaar BV, estab-                the Arbetsdomstolen): Jämställdhetsombudsmannen v
lished in Aalsmeer (Netherlands), represented by J.A.M.P.                                    Örebro läns landsting (1)
Keijser, of the Nijmegen Bar, with an address for service in
Luxembourg at the Chambers of A. Kronshagen, 22 Rue
Marie-Adélaïde and Commission of the European Communi-                  (Social policy — Male and female workers — Equal pay for
ties, (Agent: B.J. Drijber) — the Court (Fifth Chamber),                work of equal value — Article 119 of the EC Treaty (Articles
composed of: J.C. Moitinho de Almeida, acting for the President         117 to 120 of the EC Treaty have been replaced by Articles
of the Chamber, L. Sevón, J.-P. Puissochet, P. Jann (Rapporteur)       136 EC to 143 EC) — Directive 75/117/EEC — Comparison
and M. Wathelet, Judges; A. Saggio, Advocate General;                   of a midwife’s pay with that of a clinical technician —
L. Hewlett, Administrator, for the Registrar, has given a               Taking into account a supplement and a reduction in
judgment on 30 March 2000, in which it:                                         working time for inconvenient working hours)
                                                                                                  (2000/C 163/06)
1. Dismisses the main appeal and the cross-appeal;
                                                                                           (Language of the case: Swedish)
2. Orders Coöperatieve Vereniging De Verenigde Bloemenveilingen
     Aalsmeer BA (VBA) to bear its own costs and to pay those of        (Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be published
     Vereniging van Groothandelaren in Bloemkwekerijproducten                              in the European Court Reports)
     (VGB), Florimex BV, Inkoop Services Aalsmeer BV and
     M. Verhaar BV relating to the appeal;
                                                                        In Case C-236/98: Reference to the Court under Article 177 of
                                                                        the EC Treaty (now Article 234 EC) by the Arbetsdomstolen,
                                                                        Sweden, for a preliminary ruling in the proceedings pending
                                                                        before that court between Jämställdhetsombudsmannen and
3. Orders Vereniging van Groothandelaren in Bloemkwekerijpro-           Örebro läns Landsting — on the interpretation of Article 119
     ducten (VGB), Florimex BV, Inkoop Services Aalsmeer BV and         of the EC Treaty (Articles 117 to 120 of the EC Treaty have
     M. Verhaar BV to bear their own costs and to pay those             been replaced by Articles 136 EC to 143 EC) and of Council
     of Coöperatieve Vereniging De Verenigde Bloemenveilingen           Directive 75/117/EEC of 10 February 1975 on the approxi-
     Aalsmeer BA (VBA) relating to the cross-appeal;                    mation of the laws of the Member States relating to the
                                                                        application of the principle of equal pay for men and women
                                                                        (OJ 1975 L 45, p. 19) — the Court (Sixth Chamber), composed
                                                                        of: J.C. Moitinho de Almeida, President of the Chamber,
                                                                        R. Schintgen (Rapporteur), C. Gulmann, J.-P. Puissochet and
4. Orders the Commission of the European Communities to bear its        F. Macken, Judges; F. G. Jacobs, Advocate General ; H.A. Rühl,
     own costs.                                                         Principal Administrator, for the Registrar, has given a judgment
                                                                        on 30 March 2000, in which it ruled:
                                                                        1. The inconvenient-hours supplement is not to be taken into
                                                                            account in calculating the salary which serves as the basis for a
                                                                            pay comparison for the purposes of Article 119 of the EC Treaty
(1) OJ C 318 of 18.10.1997.                                                 (Articles 117 to 120 of the EC Treaty were replaced by Articles
                                                                            136 EC to 143 EC) and Council Directive 75/117/EEC of
                                                                            10 February 1975 on the approximation of the laws of the
                                                                            Member States relating to the application of the principle of
                                                                            equal pay for men and women. If a difference in pay between the
                                                                            two groups compared is found to exist, and if the available
                                                                            statistical data indicate that there is a substantially higher
                                                                            proportion of women than men in the disadvantaged group,
                                                                            Article 119 of the Treaty requires the employer to justify the
                                                                            difference by objective factors unrelated to any discrimination on
                                                                            grounds of sex.
 ---pagebreak--- 10.6.2000                  EN                       Official Journal of the European Communities                                            C 163/5
2. Neither the reduction in working time, by reference to the                                    JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
     standard working time for day-work, awarded in respect of work
     performed according to a three-shift roster, nor the value of such
     a reduction, are to be taken into consideration for the purpose of                                   (First Chamber)
     calculating the salary used as the basis for a pay comparison for
     the purposes of Article 119 of the Treaty and Directive 75/117.
     However, such a reduction may constitute an objective reason                                         of 4 April 2000
     unrelated to any discrimination on grounds of sex such as to
     justify a difference in pay. It is for the employer to show that such
     is in fact the case.
                                                                               in Case C-465/98 (reference for a preliminary ruling from
                                                                               the Oberlandesgericht Köln): Verein gegen Unwesen in
(1) OJ C 278 of 5.9.1998.                                                          Handel und Gewerbe Köln eV v Adolf Darbo AG (1)
                                                                               (Labelling and presentation of foodstuffs — Directive
                                                                                    79/112/EEC — Strawberryjam — Risk of deception)
                   JUDGMENT OF THE COURT                                                                  (2000/C 163/08)
                             of 4 April 2000
                                                                                                   (Language of the case: German)
in Case C-269/97: Commission of the European Communi-
             ties v Council of the European Union (1)
           (Regulation (EC) No 820/97 — Legal basis)                           (Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be published
                                                                                                   in the European Court Reports)
                             (2000/C 163/07)
                                                                               In Case C-465/98, reference to the Court under Article 177 of
                       (Language of the case: French)                          the EC Treaty (now Article 234 EC) by the Oberlandesgericht
                                                                               Köln (Germany) for a preliminary ruling in the proceedings
                                                                               pending before that court between Verein gegen Unwesen in
(Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be published         Handel und Gewerbe Köln eV and Adolf Darbo AG — on
                      in the European Court Reports)                           the interpretation of Article 2(1)(a)(i) of Council Directive
                                                                               79/112/EEC of 18 December 1978 on the approximation of
In Case C-269/97: Commission of the European Communities                       the laws of the Member States relating to the labelling,
(Agents: P. van Nuffel and G. Berscheid), supported by the                     presentation and advertising of foodstuffs for sale to the
European Parliament (Agents: J. Schoo and E. Waldherr) v                       ultimate consumer (OJ 1979 L 33, p. 1) — the Court (First
Council of the European Union (Agents: J.-C. Piris, J. Carbery                 Chamber), composed of: L. Sevón, President of the Chamber,
and M. Sims) — application for annulment of Council                            P. Jann and M. Wathelet (Rapporteur), Judges; P. Léger,
Regulation (EC) No 820/97 of 21 April 1997 establishing a                      Advocate General; L. Hewlett, Administrator, for the Registrar,
system for the identification and registration of bovine animals               has given a judgment on 4 April 2000, in which it has ruled:
and regarding the labelling of beef and beef products (OJ 1997
L 117, p. 1) — the Court, composed of: G.C. Rodriguez
Iglesias, President, D.A.O. Edward and L. Sevón (Rapporteur),                 Article 2(1)(a)(i) of Council Directive 79/112/EEC of 18 December
Presidents of Chambers, P.J.G. Kapteyn, C. Gulmann,                            1978 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States
J.-P. Puissochet, P. Jann, H. Ragnemalm and M. Wathelet,                       relating to the labelling, presentation and advertising of foodstuffs
Judges; A. Saggio, Advocate General; R. Grass, Registrar, has                  for sale to the ultimate consumer does not preclude use of the
given a judgment on 4 April 2000, in which it:                                 description ‘naturally pure’ for a strawberry jam which contains the
                                                                               gelling agent pectin and traces or residues of lead, cadmium and
1. Dismisses the application;                                                  pesticides of the following levels: 0.01 mg/kg of lead, 0.008 mg/kg
                                                                               of cadmium, 0.016 mg/kg of procymidone and 0.005 mg/kg of
2. Orders the Commission of the European Communities to pay the                vinclozolin.
     costs;
3. Orders the European Parliament to bear its own costs.
                                                                               (1) OJ C 71 of 13.3.1999.
(1) OJ C 295 of 27.9.1997.