Judgment of the Court (Sixth Chamber) 15 December 1994

In Joined Cases C-399/92, C-409/92, C-425/92, C-34/93, C-50/93 and C-78/93, REFERENCE to the Court under Article 177 of the EEC Treaty by the Landesarbeitsgericht Hamm (C-399/92), the Arbeitsgericht Hamburg (C-409/92 and C-425/92), the Arbeitsgericht Bochum (C-34/93), the Arbeitsgericht Elmshorn (C-50/93) and the Arbeitsgericht Neumünster (C-78/93) for a preliminary ruling in the proceedings pending before those courts between

THE COURT (Sixth Chamber), composed of: F. A. Schockweiler, President of the Chamber, P. J. G. Kapteyn, G. F. Mancini, C. N. Kakouris and J. L. Murray (Rapporteur), Judges, Advocate General: M. Darmon, Registrar: H. A. Rühi, Principal Administrator,

after considering the written observations submitted on behalf of: Elke Herzog (Case C-425/92), by Max Gussone, the person responsible for such matters at the Gewerkschaft Öffentliche Dienste, Transport und Verkehr, Bezirksverwaltung Hamburg, the Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund Landesverband Hamburg eV (Case C-425/92), by Tay Eich, Rechtsanwalt, Hamburg, the Bundesknappschaft Bochum (Case C-34/93), by U. Bielefeld, Rechtsanwalt, Hamm, Ursula Ludewig (Case C-78/93), by Dorothea Goergens, Rechtsanwalt, Hamburg, Kreis Segeberg (Case C-78/93), by Gerion Mihr, Adviser to the Kreisausschuß, the Commission of the European Communities, by Karen Banks, of its Legal Service, and Horstpeter Kreppel, a German civil servant seconded to the Commission's Legal Service, acting as Agents (Cases C-399/92, C-409/92, C-425/92, C-34/93, C-50/93 and C-78/93), the German Government, by Ernst Röder, Ministerialrat at the Federal Ministry of the Economy, and Claus-Dieter Quassowski, Regierungsdirektor at the same Ministry, acting as Agents (Cases C-399/92, C-409/92, C-425/92, C-34/93, C-50/93 and C-78/93), the French Government, by Claude Chavance, Principal Attache in Central Administration at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Jean-Pierre Puissochet, Director of Legal Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, acting as Agents (Case C-78/93), the Greek Government, by Nikolaos Mavrikas, Assistant Legal Adviser at the State Legal Council, and Kyriaki Grigoriou, legal assistant at the State Legal Council (Case C-399/92), Fokionas Georgakopoulos, Assistant Legal Adviser at the State Legal Council (Case C-409/92), Dimitrios Raptis, State Legal Adviser (Case C-425/92), Vassileios Kondolaimos, Assistant Legal Adviser at the State Legal Council, and Maria Basdeki, legal assistant at the State Legal Council (Case C-34/93), acting as Agents, the United Kingdom, by S. Lucinda Hudson, Treasury Solicitor, and David Pannick, Barrister (Cases C-399/92, C-409/92, C-425/92 and C-50/93), John Collins, Treasury Solicitor, and David Pannick, Barrister (Case C-34/93), and S. Lucinda Hudson, Treasury Solicitor (Case C-78/93), acting as Agents,

having regard to the Report for the Hearing,

after hearing the oral observations of Elke Herzog; Dagmar Lange, represented by Max Gussone, the representative of the Gewerkschaft Öffentliche Dienste, Transport und Verkehr, ÖTV, Bezirksverwaltung Hamburg; Angelika Kussfeld, represented by Ute Lorenz, Rechtssekretärin of the DGB (Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund), Düsseldorf; Detlef Bogdol GmbH, represented by Johannes Bungart, Rechtsanwalt, Bonn; Ursula Ludewig, the German Government, the Greek Government, the French Government, the United Kingdom and the Commission of the European Communities at the hearing on 10 March 1994,

after hearing the Opinion of the Advocate General at the sitting on 19 April 1994,

gives the following

Judgment

— In Case C-399/92:

— In Case C-409/92:

— In Case C-425/92:

— In Case C-34/93:

— In Case C-50/93:

— In Case C-78/93:

Jurisdiction of the Court

Whether there is discrimination prohibited by Article 119 of the Treaty and the directive

The other questions referred to the Court

Costs

1 Language of the case: German.