Luxembourg, 01/12/2000 (Agence Europe) - To calculate the remuneration and length of service in public or private education establishments recognised by the State, Austria must take account of the years these people have spent in other European establishments. Years of service must come into play without any time limit, i.e. even for the years prior to Austria's membership of the European Union (1995).
The fifth chamber of the European Court of Justice presided by Judge Edward, agrees with the Gewerkschaftsbund, Austrian trade union which represents employees in the public sector. This trade union had referred a case to the Austrian Supreme Court demanding that account be taken of professional experience gained in other Member States. In its ruling in favour of the trade union's interpretation, the Court based itself on the principle of non-discrimination between Community nationals. For the Court, Austrian legislation plays against migrant workers that have spent part of their careers in another Member State; this certainly is a concealed form of discrimination prohibited by European law. The European judges rejected Austria's argument by which jobs in public administration are not targeted by the provisions of the treaty on the free movement of persons or on non-discrimination (according to the Court's case law, only access to senior civil service positions - reserved for nationals - are exempted from the rules of the treaty: Ed.).