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Advocate General delivers Opinion in Heyday
The Advocate General has delivered his Opinion in The Incorporated Trustees of the National Council for Ageing (Age Concern England) v Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, Case C-388/07.
His opinion, regarding the interpretation of the Framework Directive and the degree of specificity with which it must be transposed into national law, is that:
- National rules on retirement are subject to age discrimination law.
- There is no requirement for national law to list types of treatment which may amount to justification.
- There is no significant difference between the test for justification in respect of direct and indirect discrimination.
In light of this, the Advocate General is of the opinion that a national rule which permits employers to dismiss employees aged 65 or over for retirement can, in principle, be justified. It is now for the national courts to determine whether that rule is, in fact, objectively and reasonably justified.
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