Deutsche Post AG contra Elisabeth Sievers (C-270/97) y Brunhilde Schrage (C-271/97).

• Jurisdiction: European Union
• Celex Number: 61997CJ0270
• ECLI: ECLI:EU:C:2000:76
• Date: 10 February 2000
• Court: Court of Justice (European Union)
• Procedure Type: Reference for a preliminary ruling
• Docket Number: C-271/97,C-270/97

Avis juridique important

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61997J0270

Judgment of the Court (Sixth Chamber) of 10 February 2000. - Deutsche Post AG v Elisabeth Sievers (C-270/97) and Brunhilde Schrage (C-271/97). - Reference for a preliminary ruling: Landesarbeitsgericht Niedersachsen - Germany. - Equal pay for men and women - Article 119 of the EC Treaty (Articles 117 to 120 of the EC Treaty have been replaced by Articles 136 EC to 143 EC) - Protocol concerning Article 119 of the EC Treaty - Occupational social security schemes - Exclusion of part-time workers affiliated to a supplementary occupational retirement pension scheme - Retroactive membership - Entitlement to a pension - Relationship between national law and Community law - Interpretation consonant with Community law. - Joined cases C-270/97 and C-271/97.

European Court reports 2000 Page I-00929

Summary
Parties
Grounds
Decision on costs
Operative part

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 Social policy - Men and women - Equal pay - Article 119 of the Treaty (Articles 117 to 120 of the Treaty have been replaced by Articles 136 EC to 143 EC) - Temporal limitation of the effects of the judgment of 8 April 1976 in Case 43/75 Defrenne II - Provisions of national law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(EC Treaty, Art. 119 (Arts 117 to 120 of the EC Treaty have been replaced by Arts 136 EC to 143 EC))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 Social policy - Men and women - Equal pay - Article 119 of the Treaty (Articles 117 to 120 of the Treaty have been replaced by Articles 136 EC to 143 EC) - Provisions of national law providing for entitlement to retroactive membership of an occupational pension scheme not precluded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(EC Treaty, Art. 119 (Arts 117 to 120 of the EC Treaty have been replaced by Arts 136 EC to 143 EC))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

Parties

In Joined Cases C-270/97 and C-271/97,

REFERENCES to the Court under Article 177 of the EC Treaty (now Article 234 EC) by the Landesarbeitsgericht Niedersachsen, Germany, for a preliminary ruling in the proceedings pending before that court between

Deutsche Post AG

and

Elisabeth Sievers (C-270/97),

Brunhilde Schrage (C-271/97)

on the interpretation of Article 119 of the EC Treaty (Articles 117 to 120 of the EC Treaty have been replaced by Articles 136 EC to 143 EC) and of the Protocol concerning Article 119 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, annexed to the EC Treaty,

THE COURT

(Sixth Chamber),

composed of: R. Schintgen (Rapporteur), President of the Second Chamber, acting for the President of the Sixth Chamber, G. Hirsch and H. Ragnemalm, Judges,

Advocate General: G. Cosmas,

Registrar: H.A. Rühl, Principal Administrator,

after considering the written observations submitted on behalf of:

- Deutsche Post AG, par M. Karoff, Rechtsanwalt, Hanover,

- the Commission of the European Communities, by P. Hillenkamp and M. Wolfcarius, of its Legal Service, acting as Agents, assisted by K. Bertelsmann, Rechtsanwalt, Hamburg,

having regard to the Report for the Hearing,

after hearing the oral observations of Deutsche Post AG, represented by J. Peter, Rechtsanwalt, Bonn, E. Sievers and B. Schrage, represented by K. Lörcher, Gewerkschaftssekretär at the Deutsche Postgewerkschaft, and the Commission, represented by M. Wolfcarius, assisted by K. Bertelsmann, at the hearing on 1 July 1998,

after hearing the Opinion of the Advocate General at the sitting on 8 October 1998,

gives the following

Judgment

Grounds

1 By two orders of 8 November 1996, received at the Court on 24 July 1997, the Landesarbeitsgericht (Regional Labour Court) Niedersachsen referred to the Court for a preliminary ruling under Article 177 of the EC Treaty (now Article 234 EC) two questions on the interpretation of Article 119 of the EC Treaty (Articles 117 to 120 of the EC Treaty have been replaced by Articles 136 EC to 143 EC) and of the Protocol concerning Article 119 of the Treaty establishing the European Community (hereinafter `the Protocol'), annexed to the EC Treaty.

2 Those questions were raised in two sets of proceedings between Deutsche Post AG (hereinafter `Deutsche Post'), formerly Deutsche Bundespost, and E. Sievers (C-270/97) and B. Schrage (C-271/97) concerning the conditions for membership of a supplementary occupational retirement pension scheme and the grant of a pension under it.

The national legislative background

3 Article 3(1) to (3) of the Grundgesetz für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, hereinafter `the GG') provides:

`1. All persons shall be equal before the law.

2. Men and women shall have equal rights. The State shall encourage effective attainment of equal rights for men and women and shall take action to remove existing disadvantages.

3. No one may be prejudiced or favoured because of his sex, his parentage, his race, his language, his homeland and origin, his faith, or his religious or political opinions. No one may be prejudiced by reason of being handicapped.'

4 Article 1 of the Gesetz über die Gleichbehandlung von Männern und Frauen am Arbeitsplatz (Law of 1980 on equal treatment for men and women in the workplace) inserted in Article 612 of the Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch (German Civil Code) a new paragraph 3, worded as follows:

`In an employment relationship, it may not be stipulated that, for the same work or work of the same value, the remuneration...