BackAfter being refused certain benefits on the ground that they were only granted to employees on the occasion of their marriage under a collective agreement, a French citizen, who had entered into a PACS arrangement (civil solidarity pact), challenged that refusal before the French courts.
In the following, the Cour de cassation, before which the case was brought at the highest level of appeal, asked the Court of Justice of the European Union whether the difference in treatment for persons in a PACS arrangement constitutes discrimination based on sexual orientation, which is prohibited under EU rules on employment relations.
In its judgment the Court finds that those entering into a PACS arrangement commit, like married persons, to living a life together and to providing material aid and assistance to each other. Furthermore, at the time of the facts in the main proceedings, the PACS arrangement was the only possibility under French law for same-sex couples to procure legal status for their relationship. Consequently, the Court concludes that the situation of persons who marry and that of persons who cannot enter into marriage and therefore conclude a PACS is comparable for the purpose of the grant of the respective benefits.
The Court holds that the collective agreement in question gives rise to direct and unjustified discrimination based on sexual orientation against homosexual employees in a PACS arrangement and therefore breaches EU Law.
For further information, please consult the attached press release.
Source: Court of Justice of the European Union
