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Document 02006L0054-20260619
Directive 2006/54/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 July 2006 on the implementation of the principle of equal opportunities and equal treatment of men and women in matters of employment and occupation (recast)
Consolidated text: Directive 2006/54/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 July 2006 on the implementation of the principle of equal opportunities and equal treatment of men and women in matters of employment and occupation (recast)
Directive 2006/54/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 July 2006 on the implementation of the principle of equal opportunities and equal treatment of men and women in matters of employment and occupation (recast)
02006L0054 — EN — 19.06.2026 — 001.001
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DIRECTIVE 2006/54/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 5 July 2006 (OJ L 204 26.7.2006, p. 23) |
Amended by:
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Official Journal |
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DIRECTIVE (EU) 2024/1500 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 14 May 2024 |
L 1500 |
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29.5.2024 |
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DIRECTIVE 2006/54/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL
of 5 July 2006
on the implementation of the principle of equal opportunities and equal treatment of men and women in matters of employment and occupation (recast)
TITLE I
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Article 1
Purpose
The purpose of this Directive is to ensure the implementation of the principle of equal opportunities and equal treatment of men and women in matters of employment and occupation.
To that end, it contains provisions to implement the principle of equal treatment in relation to:
access to employment, including promotion, and to vocational training;
working conditions, including pay;
occupational social security schemes.
It also contains provisions to ensure that such implementation is made more effective by the establishment of appropriate procedures.
Article 2
Definitions
For the purposes of this Directive, the following definitions shall apply:
‘direct discrimination’: where one person is treated less favourably on grounds of sex than another is, has been or would be treated in a comparable situation;
‘indirect discrimination’: where an apparently neutral provision, criterion or practice would put persons of one sex at a particular disadvantage compared with persons of the other sex, unless that provision, criterion or practice is objectively justified by a legitimate aim, and the means of achieving that aim are appropriate and necessary;
‘harassment’: where unwanted conduct related to the sex of a person occurs with the purpose or effect of violating the dignity of a person, and of creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment;
‘sexual harassment’: where any form of unwanted verbal, non-verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature occurs, with the purpose or effect of violating the dignity of a person, in particular when creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment;
‘pay’: the ordinary basic or minimum wage or salary and any other consideration, whether in cash or in kind, which the worker receives directly or indirectly, in respect of his/her employment from his/her employer;
‘occupational social security schemes’: schemes not governed by Council Directive 79/7/EEC of 19 December 1978 on the progressive implementation of the principle of equal treatment for men and women in matters of social security ( 1 ) whose purpose is to provide workers, whether employees or self-employed, in an undertaking or group of undertakings, area of economic activity, occupational sector or group of sectors with benefits intended to supplement the benefits provided by statutory social security schemes or to replace them, whether membership of such schemes is compulsory or optional.
For the purposes of this Directive, discrimination includes:
harassment and sexual harassment, as well as any less favourable treatment based on a person's rejection of or submission to such conduct;
instruction to discriminate against persons on grounds of sex;
any less favourable treatment of a woman related to pregnancy or maternity leave within the meaning of Directive 92/85/EEC.
Article 3
Positive action
Member States may maintain or adopt measures within the meaning of Article 141(4) of the Treaty with a view to ensuring full equality in practice between men and women in working life.
TITLE II
SPECIFIC PROVISIONS
CHAPTER 1
Equal pay
Article 4
Prohibition of discrimination
For the same work or for work to which equal value is attributed, direct and indirect discrimination on grounds of sex with regard to all aspects and conditions of remuneration shall be eliminated.
In particular, where a job classification system is used for determining pay, it shall be based on the same criteria for both men and women and so drawn up as to exclude any discrimination on grounds of sex.
CHAPTER 2
Equal treatment in occupational social security schemes
Article 5
Prohibition of discrimination
Without prejudice to Article 4, there shall be no direct or indirect discrimination on grounds of sex in occupational social security schemes, in particular as regards:
the scope of such schemes and the conditions of access to them;
the obligation to contribute and the calculation of contributions;
the calculation of benefits, including supplementary benefits due in respect of a spouse or dependants, and the conditions governing the duration and retention of entitlement to benefits.
Article 6
Personal scope
This Chapter shall apply to members of the working population, including self-employed persons, persons whose activity is interrupted by illness, maternity, accident or involuntary unemployment and persons seeking employment and to retired and disabled workers, and to those claiming under them, in accordance with national law and/or practice.
Article 7
Material scope
This Chapter applies to:
occupational social security schemes which provide protection against the following risks:
sickness,
invalidity,
old age, including early retirement,
industrial accidents and occupational diseases,
unemployment;
occupational social security schemes which provide for other social benefits, in cash or in kind, and in particular survivors' benefits and family allowances, if such benefits constitute a consideration paid by the employer to the worker by reason of the latter's employment.
Article 8
Exclusions from the material scope
This Chapter does not apply to:
individual contracts for self-employed persons;
single-member schemes for self-employed persons;
insurance contracts to which the employer is not a party, in the case of workers;
optional provisions of occupational social security schemes offered to participants individually to guarantee them:
either additional benefits,
or a choice of date on which the normal benefits for self-employed persons will start, or a choice between several benefits;
occupational social security schemes in so far as benefits are financed by contributions paid by workers on a voluntary basis.
Article 9
Examples of discrimination
Provisions contrary to the principle of equal treatment shall include those based on sex, either directly or indirectly, for:
determining the persons who may participate in an occupational social security scheme;
fixing the compulsory or optional nature of participation in an occupational social security scheme;
laying down different rules as regards the age of entry into the scheme or the minimum period of employment or membership of the scheme required to obtain the benefits thereof;
laying down different rules, except as provided for in points (h) and (j), for the reimbursement of contributions when a worker leaves a scheme without having fulfilled the conditions guaranteeing a deferred right to long-term benefits;
setting different conditions for the granting of benefits or restricting such benefits to workers of one or other of the sexes;
fixing different retirement ages;
suspending the retention or acquisition of rights during periods of maternity leave or leave for family reasons which are granted by law or agreement and are paid by the employer;
setting different levels of benefit, except in so far as may be necessary to take account of actuarial calculation factors which differ according to sex in the case of defined-contribution schemes; in the case of funded defined-benefit schemes, certain elements may be unequal where the inequality of the amounts results from the effects of the use of actuarial factors differing according to sex at the time when the scheme's funding is implemented;
setting different levels for workers' contributions;
setting different levels for employers' contributions, except:
in the case of defined-contribution schemes if the aim is to equalise the amount of the final benefits or to make them more nearly equal for both sexes,
in the case of funded defined-benefit schemes where the employer's contributions are intended to ensure the adequacy of the funds necessary to cover the cost of the benefits defined;
laying down different standards or standards applicable only to workers of a specified sex, except as provided for in points (h) and (j), as regards the guarantee or retention of entitlement to deferred benefits when a worker leaves a scheme.
Article 10
Implementation as regards self-employed persons
Article 11
Possibility of deferral as regards self-employed persons
As regards occupational social security schemes for self-employed persons, Member States may defer compulsory application of the principle of equal treatment with regard to:
determination of pensionable age for the granting of old-age or retirement pensions, and the possible implications for other benefits:
either until the date on which such equality is achieved in statutory schemes,
or, at the latest, until such equality is prescribed by a directive;
survivors' pensions until Community law establishes the principle of equal treatment in statutory social security schemes in that regard;
the application of Article 9(1)(i) in relation to the use of actuarial calculation factors, until 1 January 1999 or for Member States whose accession took place after that date until the date that Directive 86/378/EEC became applicable in their territory.
Article 12
Retroactive effect
Article 13
Flexible pensionable age
Where men and women may claim a flexible pensionable age under the same conditions, this shall not be deemed to be incompatible with this Chapter.
CHAPTER 3
Equal treatment as regards access to employment, vocational training and promotion and working conditions
Article 14
Prohibition of discrimination
There shall be no direct or indirect discrimination on grounds of sex in the public or private sectors, including public bodies, in relation to:
conditions for access to employment, to self-employment or to occupation, including selection criteria and recruitment conditions, whatever the branch of activity and at all levels of the professional hierarchy, including promotion;
access to all types and to all levels of vocational guidance, vocational training, advanced vocational training and retraining, including practical work experience;
employment and working conditions, including dismissals, as well as pay as provided for in Article 141 of the Treaty;
membership of, and involvement in, an organisation of workers or employers, or any organisation whose members carry on a particular profession, including the benefits provided for by such organisations.
Article 15
Return from maternity leave
A woman on maternity leave shall be entitled, after the end of her period of maternity leave, to return to her job or to an equivalent post on terms and conditions which are no less favourable to her and to benefit from any improvement in working conditions to which she would have been entitled during her absence.
Article 16
Paternity and adoption leave
This Directive is without prejudice to the right of Member States to recognise distinct rights to paternity and/or adoption leave. Those Member States which recognise such rights shall take the necessary measures to protect working men and women against dismissal due to exercising those rights and ensure that, at the end of such leave, they are entitled to return to their jobs or to equivalent posts on terms and conditions which are no less favourable to them, and to benefit from any improvement in working conditions to which they would have been entitled during their absence.
TITLE III
HORIZONTAL PROVISIONS
CHAPTER 1
Remedies and enforcement
Section 1
Remedies
Article 17
Defence of rights
Article 18
Compensation or reparation
Member States shall introduce into their national legal systems such measures as are necessary to ensure real and effective compensation or reparation as the Member States so determine for the loss and damage sustained by a person injured as a result of discrimination on grounds of sex, in a way which is dissuasive and proportionate to the damage suffered. Such compensation or reparation may not be restricted by the fixing of a prior upper limit, except in cases where the employer can prove that the only damage suffered by an applicant as a result of discrimination within the meaning of this Directive is the refusal to take his/her job application into consideration.
Section 2
Burden of proof
Article 19
Burden of proof
Paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 shall also apply to:
the situations covered by Article 141 of the Treaty and, insofar as discrimination based on sex is concerned, by Directives 92/85/EEC and 96/34/EC;
any civil or administrative procedure concerning the public or private sector which provides for means of redress under national law pursuant to the measures referred to in (a) with the exception of out-of-court procedures of a voluntary nature or provided for in national law.
CHAPTER 2
Promotion of equal treatment — dialogue
▼M1 —————
Article 21
Social dialogue
To this end, employers shall be encouraged to provide at appropriate regular intervals employees and/or their representatives with appropriate information on equal treatment for men and women in the undertaking.
Such information may include an overview of the proportions of men and women at different levels of the organisation; their pay and pay differentials; and possible measures to improve the situation in cooperation with employees' representatives.
Article 22
Dialogue with non‐governmental organisations
Member States shall encourage dialogue with appropriate non-governmental organisations which have, in accordance with their national law and practice, a legitimate interest in contributing to the fight against discrimination on grounds of sex with a view to promoting the principle of equal treatment.
CHAPTER 3
General horizontal provisions
Article 23
Compliance
Member States shall take all necessary measures to ensure that:
any laws, regulations and administrative provisions contrary to the principle of equal treatment are abolished;
provisions contrary to the principle of equal treatment in individual or collective contracts or agreements, internal rules of undertakings or rules governing the independent occupations and professions and workers' and employers' organisations or any other arrangements shall be, or may be, declared null and void or are amended;
occupational social security schemes containing such provisions may not be approved or extended by administrative measures.
Article 24
Victimisation
Member States shall introduce into their national legal systems such measures as are necessary to protect employees, including those who are employees' representatives provided for by national laws and/or practices, against dismissal or other adverse treatment by the employer as a reaction to a complaint within the undertaking or to any legal proceedings aimed at enforcing compliance with the principle of equal treatment.
Article 25
Penalties
Member States shall lay down the rules on penalties applicable to infringements of the national provisions adopted pursuant to this Directive, and shall take all measures necessary to ensure that they are applied. The penalties, which may comprise the payment of compensation to the victim, must be effective, proportionate and dissuasive. The Member States shall notify those provisions to the Commission by 5 October 2005 at the latest and shall notify it without delay of any subsequent amendment affecting them.
Article 26
Prevention of discrimination
Member States shall encourage, in accordance with national law, collective agreements or practice, employers and those responsible for access to vocational training to take effective measures to prevent all forms of discrimination on grounds of sex, in particular harassment and sexual harassment in the workplace, in access to employment, vocational training and promotion.
Article 27
Minimum requirements
Article 28
Relationship to Community and national provisions
Article 29
Gender mainstreaming
Member States shall actively take into account the objective of equality between men and women when formulating and implementing laws, regulations, administrative provisions, policies and activities in the areas referred to in this Directive.
Article 30
Dissemination of information
Member States shall ensure that measures taken pursuant to this Directive, together with the provisions already in force, are brought to the attention of all the persons concerned by all suitable means and, where appropriate, at the workplace.
TITLE IV
FINAL PROVISIONS
Article 31
Reports
Article 32
Review
By 15 February 2011 at the latest, the Commission shall review the operation of this Directive and if appropriate, propose any amendments it deems necessary.
Article 33
Implementation
Member States shall bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with this Directive by 15 August 2008 at the latest or shall ensure, by that date, that management and labour introduce the requisite provisions by way of agreement. Member States may, if necessary to take account of particular difficulties, have up to one additional year to comply with this Directive. Member States shall take all necessary steps to be able to guarantee the results imposed by this Directive. They shall forthwith communicate to the Commission the texts of those measures.
When Member States adopt these measures, they shall contain a reference to this Directive or be accompanied by such reference on the occasion of their official publication. They shall also include a statement that references in existing laws, regulations and administrative provisions to the Directives repealed by this Directive shall be construed as references to this Directive. Member States shall determine how such reference is to be made and how that statement is to be formulated.
The obligation to transpose this Directive into national law shall be confined to those provisions which represent a substantive change as compared with the earlier Directives. The obligation to transpose the provisions which are substantially unchanged arises under the earlier Directives.
Member States shall communicate to the Commission the text of the main provisions of national law which they adopt in the field covered by this Directive.
Article 34
Repeal
Article 35
Entry into force
This Directive shall enter into force on the 20th day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
Article 36
Addressees
This Directive is addressed to the Member States.
ANNEX I
PART A
Repealed Directives with their successive amendments
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Council Directive 75/117/EEC |
OJ L 45, 19.2.1975, p. 19 |
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Council Directive 76/207/EEC |
OJ L 39, 14.2.1976, p. 40 |
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Directive 2002/73/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council |
OJ L 269, 5.10.2002, p. 15 |
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Council Directive 86/378/EEC |
OJ L 225, 12.8.1986, p. 40 |
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Council Directive 96/97/EC |
OJ L 46, 17.2.1997, p. 20 |
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Council Directive 97/80/EC |
OJ L 14, 20.1.1998, p. 6 |
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Council Directive 98/52/EC |
OJ L 205, 22.7.1998, p. 66 |
PART B
List of time limits for transposition into national law and application dates
(referred to in Article 34(1))
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Directive |
Time-limit for transposition |
Date of application |
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Directive 75/117/EEC |
19.2.1976 |
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Directive 76/207/EEC |
14.8.1978 |
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Directive 86/378/EEC |
1.1.1993 |
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Directive 96/97/EC |
1.7.1997 |
17.5.1990 in relation to workers, except for those workers or those claiming under them who had before that date initiated legal proceedings or raised an equivalent claim under national law. Article 8 of Directive 86/378/EEC — 1.1.1993 at the latest. Article 6(1)(i), first indent of Directive 86/378/EEC –1.1.1999 at the latest. |
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Directive 97/80/EC |
1.1.2001 |
As regards the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 22.7.2001 |
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Directive 98/52/EC |
22.7.2001 |
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Directive 2002/73/EC |
5.10.2005 |
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ANNEX II
Correlation table
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Directive 75/117/EEC |
Directive 76/207/EEC |
Directive 86/378/EEC |
Directive 97/80/EC |
This Directive |
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— |
Article 1(1) |
Article 1 |
Article 1 |
Article 1 |
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— |
Article 1(2) |
— |
— |
— |
|
— |
Article 2(2), first indent |
— |
— |
Article 2(1), (a) |
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— |
Article 2(2), second indent |
— |
Article 2(2) |
Article 2(1), (b) |
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— |
Article 2(2), third and fourth indents |
— |
— |
Article 2(1), (c) and (d) |
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— |
— |
— |
— |
Article 2(1), (e) |
|
— |
— |
Article 2(1) |
— |
Article 2(1), (f) |
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— |
Article 2(3) and (4) and Article 2(7) third subparagraph |
— |
— |
Article 2(2) |
|
— |
Article 2(8) |
— |
— |
Article 3 |
|
Article 1 |
— |
— |
— |
Article 4 |
|
— |
— |
Article 5(1) |
— |
Article 5 |
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— |
— |
Article 3 |
— |
Article 6 |
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— |
— |
Article 4 |
— |
Article 7(1) |
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— |
— |
— |
— |
Article 7(2) |
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Article 2(2) |
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Article 8(1) |
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— |
— |
Article 2(3) |
— |
Article 8(2) |
|
— |
— |
Article 6 |
— |
Article 9 |
|
— |
— |
Article 8 |
— |
Article 10 |
|
— |
— |
Article 9 |
— |
Article 11 |
|
— |
— |
(Article 2 of Directive 96/97/EC) |
— |
Article 12 |
|
— |
— |
Article 9a |
— |
Article 13 |
|
— |
Articles 2(1) and 3(1) |
— |
Article 2(1) |
Article 14(1) |
|
— |
Article 2(6) |
— |
— |
Article 14(2) |
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— |
Article 2(7), second subparagraph |
— |
— |
Article 15 |
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— |
Article 2(7), fourth subparagraph, second and third sentence |
— |
— |
Article 16 |
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Article 2 |
Article 6(1) |
Article 10 |
— |
Article 17(1) |
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— |
Article 6(3) |
— |
— |
Article 17(2) |
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— |
Article 6(4) |
— |
— |
Article 17(3) |
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— |
Article 6(2) |
— |
— |
Article 18 |
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— |
— |
— |
Articles 3 and 4 |
Article 19 |
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— |
Article 8a |
— |
— |
Article 20 |
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— |
Article 8b |
— |
— |
Article 21 |
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— |
Article 8c |
— |
— |
Article 22 |
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Articles 3 and 6 |
Article 3 (2)(a) |
— |
— |
Article 23(a) |
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Article 4 |
Article 3(2)(b) |
Article 7(a) |
— |
Article 23(b) |
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— |
— |
Article 7(b) |
— |
Article 23(c) |
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Article 5 |
Article 7 |
Article 11 |
— |
Article 24 |
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Article 6 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
|
— |
Article 8d |
— |
— |
Article 25 |
|
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Article 2(5) |
|
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Article 26 |
|
— |
Article 8e(1) |
— |
Article 4(2) |
Article 27(1) |
|
— |
Article 8e(2) |
— |
Article 6 |
Article 27(2) |
|
— |
Article 2(7) first subparagraph |
Article 5(2) |
— |
Article 28(1) |
|
— |
Article 2(7) fourth subparagraph first sentence |
|
|
Article 28(2) |
|
— |
Article 1(1a) |
|
|
Article 29 |
|
Article 7 |
Article 8 |
— |
Article 5 |
Article 30 |
|
Article 9 |
Article 10 |
Article 12(2) |
Article 7, fourth subparagraph |
Article 31(1) and (2) |
|
— |
Article 9(2) |
— |
— |
Article 31(3) |
|
— |
— |
— |
— |
Article 32 |
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Article 8 |
Article 9(1), first subparagraph and 9(2) and (3) |
Article 12(1) |
Article 7, first, second and third subparagraphs |
Article 33 |
|
— |
Article 9(1), second subparagraph |
— |
— |
— |
|
— |
— |
— |
— |
Article 34 |
|
— |
— |
— |
— |
Article 35 |
|
— |
— |
— |
— |
Article 36 |
|
— |
— |
Annex |
— |
— |