Keywords
Summary

Keywords

1. Procedure - Opinion of the Advocate General - Detailed rules on the delivery of Opinions

2. Social policy - Men and women - Equal pay - Article 119 of the Treaty (Articles 117 to 120 of the Treaty have been replaced by Articles 136 EC to 143 EC) - Temporal limitation of the effects of the judgment of 8 April 1976 in Case 43/75 Defrenne II - Provisions of national law providing for entitlement to retroactive membership of an occupational pension scheme not precluded

(EC Treaty, Art. 119 (Arts 117 to 120 of the EC Treaty have been replaced by Arts 136 EC to 143 EC))

3. Social policy - Men and women - Equal pay - Article 119 of the Treaty (Articles 117 to 120 of the Treaty have been replaced by Articles 136 EC to 143 EC) - Provisions of national law providing for entitlement to retroactive membership of an occupational pension scheme not precluded notwithstanding the risk of distortions of competition - Primacy of the social aim of Article 119 of the Treaty

(EC Treaty, Art. 119 (Arts 117 to 120 of the EC Treaty have been replaced by Arts 136 EC to 143 EC))

4. Social policy - Men and women - Equal pay - Application of that principle by the national courts

(EC Treaty, Art. 119 (Arts 117 to 120 of the EC Treaty have been replaced by Arts 136 EC to 143 EC))

Summary

$$1. The fact that the operative part of the Opinion of the Advocate General is read at a sitting of a Chamber other than the Chamber which is to give judgment in the case does not involve any infringement of the rules applicable to the Court or of the rights enjoyed by the parties in the main proceedings. The Judges of the Chamber hearing the case may be apprised of the Opinion of the Advocate General through the deposit of that document at the Court Registry. An Opinion is made public, inter alia, by the reading of the operative part thereof at a public sitting and the said deposit of the Opinion at the Registry.

( see paras 27-28 )

2. The limitation in time resulting from the judgment of 8 April 1976 in Case 43/75 Defrenne II of the possibility of relying on the direct effect of Article 119 of the Treaty (Articles 117 to 120 of the Treaty have been replaced by Articles 136 EC to 143 EC) does not preclude national provisions which lay down a principle of equal treatment by virtue of which all part-time workers are entitled to retroactive membership of an occupational pension scheme and to receive a pension under that scheme.

That limitation was not intended in any way to deprive the workers concerned of the opportunity of relying on national provisions laying down a principle of equal treatment. National provisions having the effect of ensuring application of the principle of equal pay for male and female workers contribute to the implementation of Article 119 of the Treaty. In such circumstances, the principle of legal certainty, which may move the Court, exceptionally, to limit the possibility of relying on a provision which it has interpreted, does not fall to be applied and does not preclude the application of national provisions which ensure a result which conforms with Community law.

( see paras 48-50 and 52, and operative part, para. 1 )

3. Article 119 of the Treaty (Articles 117 to 120 of the Treaty have been replaced by Articles 136 EC to 143 EC) does not preclude provisions of a Member State which lay down a principle of equal treatment by virtue of which all part-time workers are entitled to retroactive membership of an occupational pension scheme and to receive a pension under that scheme, notwithstanding the risk of distortions of competition between economic operators of the various Member States to the detriment of employers established in the first Member State.

The economic aim pursued by Article 119 of the Treaty, namely the elimination of distortions of competition between undertakings established in different Member States, is secondary to the social aim pursued by the same provision, which constitutes the expression of a fundamental human right, namely, a person's right not to suffer discrimination on grounds of sex.

( see paras 56-57 and 59, and operative part, para. 2 )

4. National courts are required to interpret their national law as far as possible in the light of the wording and purpose of the relevant Community provisions, in particular Article 119 of the Treaty (Articles 117 to 120 of the Treaty have been replaced by Articles 136 EC to 143 EC), in order to ensure application of the principle of equal pay for men and women, since it is clear that Community law, in particular Article 119 of the Treaty, seeks to implement that principle and does not preclude national provisions which are conducive to compliance with that principle.

( see paras 62-64 and operative part, para. 3 )