CJEU Case C-914/19 / Judgment

Ministero della Giustizia v GN
Policy area
Employment and social policy
Deciding body type
Court of Justice of the European Union
Deciding body
Court (Second Chamber)
Typ
Decision
Decision date
03/06/2021
ECLI (European case law identifier)
ECLI:EU:C:2021:430
  • CJEU Case C-914/19 / Judgment

    Key facts of the case:

    Request for a preliminary ruling from the Consiglio di Stato.

    Reference for a preliminary ruling – Social policy – Principle of equal treatment in employment and occupation – Directive 2000/78/EC – Article 6(1) – Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union – Article 21 – Prohibition of all discrimination on the basis of age – National legislation setting 50 years of age as the age limit for access to the profession of notary – Justification.

     

    Outcome of the case:

    On those grounds, the Court (Second Chamber) hereby rules:

    Article 21 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and Article 6(1) of Council Directive 2000/78/EC of 27 November 2000 establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation must be interpreted as precluding national legislation which sets 50 years of age as the age limit for participation in the competition for access to the profession of notary, in so far as such legislation does not appear to pursue the aims of ensuring that that profession is practised in a stable manner for a significant period before retirement, of safeguarding the proper functioning of notarial privileges and of facilitating the natural turnover and rejuvenation of that profession and, in any event, goes beyond what is necessary to achieve those aims, which is a matter for the referring court to determine.

  • Paragraphs referring to EU Charter

    1) This request for a preliminary ruling concerns the interpretation of Article 10 TFEU, Article 21 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (‘the Charter’) and Article 6(1) of Council Directive 2000/78/EC of 27 November 2000 establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation (OJ 2000 L 303, p. 16).

    ...

    17) In those circumstances the Consiglio di Stato (Council of State) decided to stay the proceedings and to refer the following question to the Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling:

    ‘Do Article 21 of [the Charter], Article 10 TFEU and Article 6 of [Directive 2000/78], in so far as they prohibit discrimination on the basis of age for access to employment, preclude a Member State from imposing an age limit on access to the profession of notary?’

    18) By its question, the referring court asks, in essence, whether Article 21 of the Charter and Article 6(1) of Directive 2000/78 must be interpreted as precluding national legislation which sets 50 years of age as the age limit for participation in a competition for access to the profession of notary.

    19) At the outset, it must be borne in mind that the prohibition of discrimination based on, inter alia, age is incorporated in Article 21 of the Charter and that that prohibition was given specific expression by Directive 2000/78 in the field of employment and occupation (judgment of 7 February 2019, Escribano Vindel, C‑49/18, EU:C:2019:106, paragraph 39 and the case-law cited).

    ...

    44) The prohibition of discrimination on grounds of age, referred to in Article 21(1) of the Charter, must be read in the light of the right to engage in work recognised in Article 15(1) thereof. It follows that particular attention must be paid to the participation of older workers in the labour force and thus in economic, cultural and social life. Retaining older workers in the labour force promotes diversity in the workforce. However, the interest represented by the continued employment of those persons must be taken into account in respecting other, potentially divergent, interests (judgment of 2 April 2020, Comune di Gesturi, C‑670/18, EU:C:2020:272, paragraph 44 and the case-law cited).

    ...

    48) As regards the third aim, it is for the referring court to determine whether, in the present case, the national legislature, in exercising its broad discretion in the field of social and employment policy, struck a fair balance between the aim of facilitating the natural turnover and the rejuvenation of the profession of notary, on the one hand, and the need to ensure the ongoing participation of older workers in professional life, since those workers are more vulnerable on account of their age, on the other. Furthermore, as stated in recital 6 of Directive 2000/78, the Community Charter of the Fundamental Social Rights of Workers, adopted at the meeting of the European Council in Strasbourg on 9 December 1989, recognises the need to take appropriate action for the social and economic integration of elderly people.

    ...

    51) In the light of all the foregoing considerations, the answer to the question referred is that Article 21 of the Charter and Article 6(1) of Directive 2000/78 must be interpreted as precluding national legislation which sets 50 years of age as the age limit for participation in the competition for access to the profession of notary, in so far as such legislation does not appear to pursue the aims of ensuring that that profession is practised in a stable manner for a significant period before retirement, of safeguarding the proper functioning of notarial privileges and of facilitating the natural turnover and rejuvenation of that profession and, in any event, goes beyond what is necessary to achieve those aims, which is a matter for the referring court to determine.