The Advocate-General has given an opinion on a German law restricting applications to the fire service to those under 30. The Advocate-General considered that the German laws could be justified as a legitimate employment policy under Article 6(1) of the Equal Treatment Framework Directive and also as a genuine occupational requirement under Article 4(1).
The age limit for applications is reasonable, in the opinion of the AG, because of a need to ensure a continuous supply of new, frontline firefighters to replace those that move away from frontline work. The evidence showed that there are barely any front line firefighters in employment over the age of 50.
The Advocate-General also believed that the age limit could be a genuine occupational requirement under Article 4(1) as the job contains a high degree of physical activity and this generally diminishes with age, and the law is proportionate as it ensures sufficient service from new recruits.
The AG's opinion is available here.
A judgment from the ECJ was given shortly after and can be found here.
Wolf -v- Stadt Frankfurt am Main C-229/08 (opinion given 3 September 2009)