''Defrenne v Sabena (No 2)'' (1976
Case 43/75
is a foundational

European Union law European Union law is a system of rules operating within the member states of the European Union (EU). Since the founding of the European Coal and Steel Community following World War II, the EU has developed the aim to "promote peace, its valu ...

case, concerning direct effect and the

European Social Charter The European Social Charter is a Council of Europe treaty which was opened for signature on October 18, 1961 and initially became effective on February 26, 1965, after West Germany had become the fifth of the 13 signing nations to ratify it. B ...

in the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...

. It held that the EU: The case was championed by the Belgian lawyer Éliane Vogel-Polsky, who was responsible for much of the heavy involvement in sex discrimination law of the time by the

European Court of Justice The European Court of Justice (ECJ, french: Cour de Justice européenne), formally just the Court of Justice, is the supreme court of the European Union in matters of European Union law. As a part of the Court of Justice of the European U ...

Facts

A woman named Gabrielle Defrenne worked as a

flight attendant A flight attendant, also known as steward/stewardess or air host/air hostess, is a member of the aircrew aboard commercial flights, many business jets and some government aircraft. Collectively called cabin crew, flight attendants are prima ...

for the Belgian national airline

Sabena The ''Societé anonyme belge d'Exploitation de la Navigation aérienne'' (French; ), better known by the acronym Sabena or SABENA, was the national airline of Belgium from 1923 to 2001, with its base at Brussels National Airport. After its ba ...

. Under Belgian law, female flight attendants were obliged to retire at the age of 40, unlike their male counterparts. Defrenne had been forced to retire from Sabena in 1968. Defrenne complained that the lower pension rights this entailed violated her right to equal treatment on grounds of gender under article 119 of the

Treaty of the European Community The Treaty of Rome, or EEC Treaty (officially the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community), brought about the creation of the European Economic Community (EEC), the best known of the European Communities (EC). The treaty was signe ...

, (now Article 157 of the

Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union The Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) is one of two treaties forming the constitutional basis of the European Union (EU), the other being the Treaty on European Union (TEU). It was previously known as the Treaty Establishi ...

(TFEU) - prior to the Lisbon Treaty, this was article 141 TEC).

Judgment

The

held that article 119 of the

was of such a character as to have horizontal direct effect, and therefore enforceable not merely between individuals and the government, but also between private parties. Article 157 TFEU (119 TEEC, 141 TEC) was invoked which stated "Each Member State shall ensure that the principle of equal pay for male and female workers for equal work or work of equal value is applied"

Significance

This, further to the case of

Van Gend en Loos Van Gend & Loos was a Dutch distribution company. It was established in 1809, and was purchased by DHL in 2003. History Van Gend & Loos was established by the Antwerp-based innkeeper and carriage driver Jan-Baptist van Gend. He had marrie ...

, identified the horizontal and vertical direct effect of Treaty provisions which could be invoked in national courts and hence they would be bound to protect individual rights.

References and sources

;References ;Sources * {{refend

External links

E. Gubin, ''Eliane Vogel-Polsky, a woman of conviction'', Bruxelles, Institut pour l'Égalité des Femmes et des Hommes, 2007
1976 in case law 1976 in the European Economic Community European Union labour case law

Facts

Judgment

Significance

See also

References and sources

External links