Judgment of the Court (Fourth Chamber) of 4 July 2013 – European Commission v Italian Republic

(Case C-312/11) ¹

Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations – Directive 2000/78/EC – Article 5 – Establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation – Persons with disabilities – Insufficient implementing measures

Language of the case: Italian

Parties

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

Defendant: Italian Republic (represented by: G. Palmieri, acting as Agent, assisted by C. Gerardis, avvocato dello Stato)

Re:

Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations – Failure to take, within the prescribed period, all the provisions necessary to comply with Article 5 of Council Directive 2000/78/EC of 27 November 2000 establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation (OJ 2000 L 303, p. 16) – National legislation providing for the application of that article through various measures, the application of which is itself dependent on the currently purely theoretical adoption of further measures – Insufficient guarantees and adjustments

Operative part of the judgment

The Court:

Declares that, by not introducing a requirement for all employers to make reasonable adjustments, where needed in a particular case, for all persons with disabilities, the Italian Republic has failed to fulfil its obligation to ensure the correct and full implementation of Article 5 of Council Directive 2000/78/EC of 27 November 2000 establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation;

Orders the Italian Republic to pay the costs.

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¹ OJ C 226, 30.7.2011.