Judgment of the Court (Sixth Chamber) 30 March 1993

In Case C-328/91, REFERENCE to the Court under Article 177 of the EEC Treaty by the House of Lords for a preliminary ruling in the proceedings pending before that court between

THE COURT (Sixth Chamber), composed of: C. N. Kakouris, President of the Chamber, G. F. Mancini, F. A. Schockweiler, M. Diez de Velasco and P. J. G. Kapteyn, Judges, Advocate General: G. Tesauro, Registrar: Lynn Hewlett, Administrator,

after considering the written observations submitted on behalf of: Evelyn Thomas, Frances Cooze, Joyce Beard, Eleanor Ethel Morley and Sarah Murphy and the Equal Opportunities Commission, by J. A. Lakin, Solicitor and Legal Adviser, of the Equal Opportunities Commission, represented by Anthony Lester, QC, and Judith Beale, Beverley Lang and Mark Rowland, Barristers at Law, the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany, by Ernst Röder, Ministerialrat in the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs, acting as Agent, the United Kingdom, by S. Lucinda Hudson, of the Treasury Solicitor's Department, acting as Agent, assisted by Richard Plender, QC, the Commission of the European Communities, by Karen Banks, of its Legal Service, acting as Agent,

having regard to the Report for the Hearing,

after hearing the oral observations of Evelyn Thomas, Frances Cooze, Joyce Beard, Eleanor Ethel Morley and Sarah Murphy and the Equal Opportunities Commission, the United Kingdom and the Commission at the hearing on 26 November 1992,

after hearing the Opinion of the Advocate General at the sitting on 27 January 1993,

gives the following

Judgment

Costs

1 Language of the case: English.