Facts

The Ministry of the Interior organised a competition based on qualifications and tests for the allocation of 120 State Police commissioner posts. One of the general conditions for admission to the competition was that candidates must be 18 or over but not have reached the age of 30.  This age limit was specified in a Ministerial Decree.

VT attempted to apply for the competition but was automatically prevented from doing so because he was already 30 and did not fall within any of the special cases for raising the age limit.  He brought a claim about this, but the Italian court held that the age limit was a “reasonable restriction” which did not breach either the Italian Constitution or the provisions of EU law which prohibited discrimination on grounds of age.  VT appealed this decision.  The appeal court asked the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for a preliminary ruling on whether this age limit was precluded by EU law, including the Equal Treatment Framework Directive.

Decision

The ECJ ruled that the Directive, in conjunction with the EU Charter, prohibits national legislation that imposes a maximum age limit of 30 years for participating in a competition to hire police commissioners.

The requirement was clearly a difference of treatment based directly on age.  The issue was whether this could be justified. 

The need for particular physical capabilities in order to perform the essential duties of the police could be a justification.  However, the referring court had said that the duties of a police commissioner are essentially managerial and administrative.  This was disputed by the Italian government, who said all police officers might find themselves in risky situations which would justify a requirement of physical capability linked to age.  The ECJ decided that the provision would be disproportionate unless the duties required “exceptionally high” physical capacities, which was not the case here.  The ECJ also said that an eliminatory physical fitness test used in the competition was a more appropriate measure than fixing a maximum age limit at 30.

This meant that the maximum age limit of 30 was not necessary if police commissioners did not need particular physical capabilities, and was a disproportionate requirement even if certain physical capabilities were part of the role.

The ECJ also rejected the argument that the age limit was based on the training requirements of the post, or the need for a reasonable period of employment before retirement.  There was no evidence that it was appropriate or necessary for this purpose, and the retirement age for the police was fixed at 61.

The judgment is available here

VT v Ministero dell'Interno [2022] EUECJ C-304/21, 17 November 2022