Keywords
Summary

Keywords

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Social policy ° Men and women workers ° Access to employment and working conditions ° Equal treatment ° Directive 76/207 ° Article 5 ° Direct effect ° Prohibition of night work by women where the same prohibition does not apply to men not permissible ° Role of national courts with regard to obligations towards non-member countries arising under agreements concluded prior to the EEC Treaty and irreconcilable with obligations arising under Article 5 ° Application of the rule of precedence set out in Article 234 of the Treaty

(EEC Treaty, Art. 234, first para.; Council Directive 76/207, Art. 5)

Summary

The national court is under an obligation to ensure that Article 5 of Directive 76/207 on the implementation of the principle of equal treatment for men and women as regards access to employment, vocational training and promotion, and working conditions is fully complied with by refraining from applying any conflicting provision of national legislation, unless the application of such a provision is necessary in order to ensure the performance by the Member State concerned of obligations arising under an agreement concluded with non-member countries prior to the entry into force of the EEC Treaty.

While it is true that equal treatment of men and women constitutes a fundamental right recognized by the Community legal order, its implementation, even at Community level, has been gradual, requiring the Council to take action by means of directives. Those directives allow, temporarily, certain derogations from the principle of equal treatment. In those circumstances, it is not sufficient to rely on the principle of equal treatment in order to evade performance of the obligations which are incumbent on a Member State in that field under an earlier international agreement and observance of which is safeguarded by the first paragraph of Article 234 of the Treaty.

In proceedings for a preliminary ruling, it is not for this Court but for the national court to determine which obligations are imposed by an earlier international agreement on the Member State concerned and to ascertain their ambit so as to be able to determine the extent to which they constitute an obstacle to the application of Article 5 of the directive.