Action brought on 20 June 2011 - European Commission v Italian Republic

(Case C-312/11)

Language of the case: Italian

Parties

Applicant: European Commission (represented by: J. Enegren and C. Cattabriga, acting as Agents)

Defendant: Italian Republic

Form of order sought

The applicant claims that the Court should:

declare that, by not placing all employers under an obligation to make reasonable accommodation for all disabled persons, the Italian Republic has failed to fulfil its obligation to implement, fully and correctly, Article 5 of Council Directive 2000/78/EC of 27 November 2000 establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation;

order the Italian Republic to pay the costs.

Pleas in law and main arguments

1.    By not placing all employers under an obligation to make reasonable accommodation for all disabled persons, the Italian Republic has failed to fulfil its obligation to implement, fully and correctly, Article 5 of Council Directive 2000/78/EC of 27 November 2000 establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation.

2.    Article 5 of Directive 2000/78 places Member States under an obligation of general application to make reasonable accommodation to enable persons with a disability to have access to, to participate in, or to advance in employment, or to undergo training. Those measures must apply - consistently with the principle of proportionality and depending upon the specific circumstances - to all disabled persons and must concern all aspects of the employment relationship and all employers.

3.    There is no trace in the Italian legislation of measures implementing that general obligation. Admittedly, there are the provisions of Law No 68/1999, which, in a number of areas, offer a level of assurance and facilitation which is higher even than that required under Article 5 of Directive 2000/78. However, those provisions do not concern all disabled persons; they are not enforceable against all employers; they do not concern all the various aspects of the employment relationship; or they merely indicate an objective which requires subsequent implementing measures if it is to be achieved.

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