(BRUSSELS) - An EU state has the right to impose a compulsory retirement age on its workers who have earned the right to a full pension, the European Court of Justice ruled Tuesday.

The court ruling came in a case first heard in a Spanish court of Felix Palacios de la Villa who was unwilling to comply with the wish of his firm, Cortefiel Servicios, that he retire at the stipulated age of 65.

The complainant deemed himself to be a victim of age discrimination, banned in principle under a 2000 European directive on equal treatment in the workplace.

However the court recalled that the same directive allows "differences of treatment on grounds of age" where they are "objectively and reasonably justified by a legitimate aim, including legitimate employment policy".

The principle of non-discrimination on grounds of age... does not preclude a national law" where retirement clauses were collectively agreed and require only that "workers must have reached normal retirement age and must have fulfilled the conditions... to draw a retirement pension," the court ruled.

Judgment of the Court of Justice in Case C-411/05 - Palacios de la Villa - European Court of Justice press release (pdf)

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