''Re Badeck's application'' (2000
C-158/97is a German and
EU labour law
European labour law regulates basic transnational standards of employment and partnership at work in the European Union and countries adhering to the European Convention on Human Rights. In setting regulatory floors to competition for job-creatin ...
case concerning
positive action
In Europe, positive action
are measures which are targeted at protected groups in order to enable or encourage members of those groups to overcome or minimise disadvantage; or to meet the different needs of the
protected group; or to enable or ...
.
[E McGaughey, ''A Casebook on Labour Law'' (Hart 2019) ch 14, 618]
Facts
The First Minister and Attorney General of Hesse,
CDU member
Georg Badeck, wanted to review a
Hesse
Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major histor ...
law which set out a list of positive action measures for appointment to public office. They argued it violated the German
Grundgesetz
The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Grundgesetz für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland) is the constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany.
The West German Constitution was approved in Bonn on 8 May 1949 and came in ...
constitutional duty to get the best people for the job, and violated the Equal Treatment Directive 76/207/EC articles 2(1) and 2(4).
Judgment
The European Court of Justice held that priority for under represented groups was lawful, but that priority could not be automatic. The following public sector positive action measures were in fact legitimate under article 2(4): (1) aiming to get a parity split of men and women in the public sector, (2) providing a quota for female academic staff too, (3) reserving half the training places in certain fields for women, (4) providing that suitably qualified women would be guaranteed an interview, and an equal number to men. The summary of the judgment on the limits and what is not precluded by EU law was stated as follows.
See also
Notes
{{reflist, 2
References
*E McGaughey, ''A Casebook on Labour Law'' (Hart 2019) ch 14, 618
2000 in the European Union
Court of Justice of the European Union case law
German case law
2000 in case law
2000 in Germany
European Union labour case law