Report 2003 - EFTA Court

Chapter III. Decisions of the Court: Case E-1/02 EFTA Surveillance Authority v Norway
II. Legal background, pre-litigation procedure and procedure before the
Court
Legal background
EEA law
3. Article 7 EEA provides that acts referred to or contained in the Annexes to
the Agreement or in decisions of the EEA Joint Committee shall be binding upon
the Contracting Parties, and be, or be made, part of their internal legal order.
4. Article 70 EEA stipulates that the Contracting Parties shall promote the
principle of equal treatment for men and women by implementing the provisions
specified in Annex XVIII to the Agreement.
5. Council Directive 76/207/EEC of 9 February 1976 on the implementation
of the principle of equal treatment for men and women as regards access to
employment, vocational training, promotions and working conditions 1
(hereinafter the “Directive”) is listed in Annex XVIII to the EEA Agreement.
6. Article 2(1) of the Directive states that:
“For the purposes of the following provisions, the principle of equal
treatment shall mean that there shall be no discrimination whatsoever on
the grounds of sex either directly or indirectly by reference in particular
to marital or family status.”
7. Article 2(2) states that:
“This Directive shall be without prejudice to the right of member states to
exclude from its field of application those occupational activities and,
where appropriate, the training leading thereto, for which, by reason of
their nature or the context of which they are carried out, the sex of the
worker constitutes a determining factor.”
8. Article 2(4) of the Directive states that:
“This Directive shall be without prejudice to measures to promote equal
opportunity for men and women, in particular by removing existing
inequalities which affect women’s opportunities…”
9. Article 3(1) of the Directive states that:
“Application of the principle of equal treatment means that there shall be
no discrimination whatsoever on grounds of sex in the conditions,
including selection criteria, for access to all jobs or posts, whatever the
1 1976 OJ L 39, p. 40-42.