‘Article 15 of Parliament and Council Directive 2006/54/EC precluded national legislation which, on grounds relating to the public interest, excluded a woman on maternity leave from a vocational training course which formed an integral part of her employment and which was compulsory in order to be able to be appointed definitively to a post as a civil servant and in order to benefit from an improvement in her employment conditions, while guaranteeing her the right to participate in the next training course, the date of which was nevertheless uncertain. Article 14(2), which provided that a difference of treatment based on a characteristic relating to sex did not constitute discrimination in relation to particular occupational activities, did not apply since the national legislation did not limit a specified activity solely to male workers but only delayed access to that activity for female workers who had been unable to receive full vocational training as a result of compulsory maternity leave. Both articles 14(1)(c) and 15 were sufficiently clear, precise and unconditional to have direct effect.’
WLR Daily, 6th March 2014
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
