Keywords
Summary

Keywords

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Freedom of movement for persons ° Workers ° Equal treatment ° Conditions of employment ° Exemption, exclusively for foreign-language assistants, from the obligation to justify recourse to fixed-term contracts of employment by objective reasons ° Disguised discrimination ° Not permissible

(EEC Treaty, Art. 48(2))

Summary

Article 48(2) of the Treaty precludes the application of national law according to which posts for foreign-language assistants must or may be the subject of employment contracts of limited duration whereas, for other teaching staff performing special duties, recourse to such contracts must be individually justified by an objective reason.

Since the great majority of foreign-language assistants are foreign nationals, such a difference of treatment is such as to place them at a disadvantage by comparison with nationals of the host country and therefore constitutes indirect discrimination, prohibited by Article 48(2) of the Treaty, unless it is justified by objective reasons, which do not include the need to ensure up-to-date instruction.