Commission v Belgium (Public service)
The public service exception covers only posts which involve the exercise of powers conferred by public law and duties designed to safeguard the general interests of the state.
Facts
Belgium required candidates for various posts with public bodies, such as local authorities and the national railway, to have Belgian nationality. The posts included jobs such as railway shunters, nurses, plumbers and electricians. The Commission brought infringement proceedings, and Belgium relied on the public service exception.
Legal principle
The Court of Justice held that the exception covers only posts which involve direct or indirect participation in the exercise of powers conferred by public law and duties designed to safeguard the general interests of the state or of other public authorities. Such posts presume on the part of those occupying them the existence of a special relationship of allegiance to the state and reciprocity of rights and duties which form the foundation of the bond of nationality. The exception must be applied by looking at the nature of each post, not at whether the employer is a public body, and many of the posts concerned were not covered.
Related cases on free movement of workers
- Adoui and Cornuaille v Belgium Joined Cases 115/81 and 116/81, [1982] ECR 1665
- Bettray v Staatssecretaris van Justitie Case 344/87, [1989] ECR 1621
- Bonsignore v Oberstadtdirektor der Stadt Köln Case 67/74, [1975] ECR 297
- Collins v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Case C-138/02, [2004] ECR I-2703
- Groener v Minister for Education Case 379/87, [1989] ECR 3967
- Kempf v Staatssecretaris van Justitie Case 139/85, [1986] ECR 1741
- Kraus v Land Baden-Württemberg Case C-19/92, [1993] ECR I-1663
- Lair v Universität Hannover Case 39/86, [1988] ECR 3161
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