Judgment of the Court (First Chamber) of 7 November 2019 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Corte suprema di cassazione — Italy) — Gennaro Cafaro v DQ

(Case C-396/18) ¹

(Request for a preliminary ruling — Air transport — Regulation (EU) No 1178/2011 — Annex I, Point FCL.065 — Scope ratione temporis — Directive 2000/78/EC — Equal treatment in employment and occupation — Discrimination on grounds of age — Article 2(5) — Article 4(1) — National legislation providing for the automatic termination of the employment relationship at the age of 60 — Aircraft pilots — Protection of national security)

Language of the case: Italian

Referring court

Corte suprema di cassazione

Parties to the main proceedings

Appellant: Gennaro Cafaro

Defendant: DQ

Operative part of the judgment

Article 2(5) of Council Directive 2000/78/EC of 27 November 2000 establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation must be interpreted as not precluding national legislation, such as that at issue in the main proceedings, under which the employment relationship of pilots employed by a company operating aircraft used for activities associated with protecting the national security of a Member State terminates automatically once they reach the age of 60, provided that such legislation is necessary for public security within the meaning of that provision, which is a matter for the referring court to determine.

Article 4(1) of Directive 2000/78 must be interpreted as not precluding national legislation, such as that at issue in the main proceedings, under which the employment relationship of pilots employed by a company operating aircraft used for activities associated with protecting the national security of a Member State terminates automatically once they reach the age of 60, provided that such legislation is proportionate within the meaning of that provision, which is a matter for the referring court to determine.

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¹ OJ C 352, 1.10.2018.