Anita Groener v Minister for Education and the City of Dublin Vocational Educational Committee.

• Jurisdiction: European Union
• Celex Number: 61987CC0379
• ECLI: ECLI:EU:C:1989:197
• Docket Number: C-379/87
• Court: Court of Justice (European Union)
• Procedure Type: Reference for a preliminary ruling
• Date: 16 May 1989

Important legal notice

|

61987C0379

Opinion of Mr Advocate General Darmon delivered on 16 May 1989. - Anita Groener v Minister for Education and the City of Dublin Vocational Educational Committee. - Reference for a preliminary ruling: High Court - Ireland. - Free movement of workers - Knowledge of an official language of the host country. - Case C-379/87.

European Court reports 1989 Page 03967
Swedish special edition Page 00259
Finnish special edition Page 00275

Opinion of the Advocate-General

++++

Mr President,

Members of the Court,

1 . The case before the Court today following a request for a preliminary ruling submitted by the High Court, Dublin, relates to one of the most sensitive aspects of cultural identity . The importance of the Court' s reply and its consequences for the Member States and for the diversity of the Community as a whole are so evident that I need not dwell upon them, for at issue here is the power of a State to protect and foster the use of a national language .

2 . The facts are as follows . Mrs Groener, the applicant in the main proceedings, who is a Netherlands national, has, since September 1982, been working as a part-time teacher of art at the College of Marketing and Design, Dublin . That establishment comes under the authority of the City of Dublin Vocational Educational Committee, which is a public body responsible for the administration of vocational education subsidized by the State in the Dublin area . In July 1984, Mrs Groener entered a competition with a view to obtaining a permanent teaching post . She was successful in the competition but failed the special examination in Irish . Circular Letter 28/79 of the Irish Minister for Education requires candidates for permanent posts as assistant lecturer, lecturer or senior lecturer in the City of Dublin or any post subject to any other Vocational Educational Committee to demonstrate their knowledge of the Irish language . Such proof may be supplied either by production of a certificate ( An Ceard-Teastas Gaeilge ) or by passing a special examination in the Irish language . It is not disputed that the post in question fell within the scope of that circular letter .

3 . Mrs Groener challenged the refusal to appoint her before the Irish courts . She argued that Circular Letter 28/79 was incompatible with Article 48 of the EEC Treaty and Article 3 of Regulation ( EEC ) No 1612/68 of the Council on freedom of movement for workers within the Community ( hereinafter referred to as "the Regulation "), ( 1 ) which prohibit discrimination against Community nationals .

4 . Consequently, the High Court, Dublin, submitted a number of questions which, in substance, request this Court to give a ruling on whether a national provision requiring knowledge of one of the official languages of a Member State for a permanent teaching post is compatible with Article 48 of the Treaty and Article 3 of the Regulation in circumstances where, according to the national court, knowledge of that language is not actually necessary to carry out the relevant duties .

5 . The disputed administrative measure is applicable without distinction to Irish nationals and other Community nationals . However, it should be recalled that, generally speaking, the Court not only takes into account direct discrimination but also endeavours to ascertain whether the legal appearance of a provision applicable without distinction conceals de facto discrimination due to the specific circumstances prevailing in the field in question .

6 . For example, in the field of freedom of movement for workers, the Court held in a case concerning the interpretation of Regulation No 1408/71 of the Council ( 2 ) that conditions for the acquisition or retention of rights to benefits would be contrary to Community law if those conditions

"were defined in such a way that they could in fact be fulfilled only by nationals or if the conditions for loss or suspension of the right were defined in such a way that they would in fact more easily be satisfied by nationals of other Member States than by those of the State of the competent institution ". ( 3 )

7 . In the related field of the freedom to provide services, the Court has recalled that Article 59 and the third paragraph of Article 60 of the EEC Treaty

"prohibit not only overt discrimination based on the nationality of the person providing a service but also all forms of covert discrimination which, although based on criteria which appeared to be neutral, in practice lead to the same result ". ( 4 )

8 . In accordance with that general principle, the fifth recital of the preamble to the regulation states that equality of treatment must be ensured in fact and in law and the second indent of Article 3(1 ) of the regulation prohibits provisions which "though applicable irrespective of nationality, ( have as ) their exclusive or principal aim or effect ... to keep nationals of other Member States away from the employment offered ".

9 . However, the following subparagraph provides that that provision is not to apply to "conditions relating to linguistic knowledge required by reason of the nature of the post to be filled ".

10 . The concept of "the nature of the post to be filled" appears to be fundamental here . It determines the scope of...