CELEX: C2000/020/10
Language: en
Date: 2000-01-22 00:00:00
Title: Judgment of the Court of 26 October 1999 in Case C-273/97 (reference for a preliminary ruling from the Industrial Tribunal, Bury St Edmunds): Angela Maria Sirdar v The Army Board, Secretary of State for Defence (Equal treatment for men and women — Refusal to employ a woman as a chef in the Royal Marines)

C 20/6                 EN                      Official Journal of the European Communities                                          22.1.2000
2. Article 119 of the Treaty precludes an employer from excluding         ruling in the proceedings pending before that tribunal between
    female workers on parenting leave entirely from the benefit of a      Angela Maria Sirdar and The Army Board, Secretary of State
    bonus paid voluntarily as an exceptional allowance at Christmas       for Defence — on the interpretation of the EC Treaty, in
    without taking account of the work done in the year in which the      particular Article 224 thereof (now Article 297 EC), and of
    bonus is paid or of the periods for the protection of mothers (in     Council Directive 76/207/EEC of 9 February 1976 on the
    which they were prohibited from working) where that bonus is          implementation of the principle of equal treatment for men
    awarded retroactively as pay for work performed in the course of      and women as regards access to employment, vocational
    that year.                                                            training and promotion, and working conditions (OJ 1976 L
                                                                          39, p. 40), in particular Article 2 thereof — the Court,
    However, neither Article 119 of the Treaty nor Article 11(2) of       composed of: G.C. Rodrı́guez Iglesias, President, J.C. Moitinho
    Directive 92/85 nor Clause 2(6) of the Annex to Council               de Almeida, D.A.O. Edward and R. Schintgen (Presidents of
    Directive 96/34/EC of 3 June 1996 on the framework agree-             Chambers), P.J.G. Kapteyn, J.-P. Puissochet (Rapporteur),
    ment on parental leave concluded by UNICE, CEEP and the               G. Hirsch, P. Jann and H. Ragnemalm, Judges; A. La Pergola,
    ETUC precludes a refusal to pay such a bonus to a woman on            Advocate General; L. Hewlett, Administrator, for the Registrar,
    parenting leave where the award of that allowance is subject to       has given a judgment on 26 October 1999, in which it has
    the sole condition that the worker must be in active employment       ruled:
    when it is awarded.
                                                                          1. Decisions taken by Member States in regard to access to
                                                                              employment, vocational training and working conditions in the
3. Article 119 of the Treaty, Article 11(2)(b) of Directive 92/85             armed forces for the purpose of ensuring combat effectiveness do
    and Clause 2(6) of the Annex to Directive 96/34 do not preclude           not fall altogether outside the scope of Community law.
    an employer, when granting a Christmas bonus to a female
    worker who is on parenting leave, from taking periods of
    parenting leave into account, so as to reduce the benefit pro rata.   2. The exclusion of women from service in special combat units such
                                                                              as the Royal Marines may be justified under Article 2(2) of
                                                                              Council Directive 76/207/EEC of 9 February 1976 on the
    However, Article 119 of the Treaty precludes an employer, when            implementation of the principle of equal treatment for men and
    granting a Christmas bonus, from taking periods for the                   women as regards access to employment, vocational training and
    protection of mothers (in which they were prohibited from                 promotion, and working conditions, by reason of the nature of
    working) into account, so as to reduce the benefit pro rata.              the activities in question and the context in which they are carried
                                                                              out.
(1) OJ C 357 of 22.11.1997.
                                                                          (1) OJ C 295 of 27.9.1997.
                                                                                            JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
                                                                                                   of 26 October 1999
                 JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
                                                                          in Case C-294/97 (reference for a preliminary ruling from
                       of 26 October 1999                                 the Finanzgericht Münster): Eurowings Luftverkehrs AG
                                                                                           v Finanzamt Dortmund-Unna(1)
in Case C-273/97 (reference for a preliminary ruling from
the Industrial Tribunal, Bury St Edmunds): Angela Maria                   (Freedom to provide services — Trade tax — Add-back to
Sirdar v The Army Board, Secretary of State for                           the taxable amount — Exemption inapplicable to the lessee
                             Defence (1)                                  where the proprietor of the goods leased is established in
                                                                           another Member State and is therefore not liable to the tax)
(Equal treatment for men and women — Refusal to employ
           a woman as a chef in the Royal Marines)                                                    (2000/C 20/11)
                          (2000/C 20/10)                                                       (Language of the case: German)
                   (Language of the case: English)                        (Provisional translation; the definitive translation will be published
                                                                                               in the European Court Reports)
In Case C-273/97: reference to the Court under Article 177 of
the EC Treaty (now Article 234 EC) from the Industrial                    In Case C-294/97: reference to the Court under Article 177 of
Tribunal, Bury St Edmunds, United Kingdom, for a preliminary              the EC Treaty (now Article 234 EC) from the Finanzgericht