The Development of EU Case‐Law on Age Discrimination in Employment: ‘Will You Still Need Me? Will You Still Feed Me? When I'm Sixty‐Four’

This article addresses the development of age discrimination law in the C ourt of J ustice and concludes that there is a marked difference in the level of discretion given to M ember S tates in cases relating to mandatory retirement policies. The article will critique the approach of the C ourt of J ustice to the legitimate objective test and the proportionality test in retirement cases. It will also argue that the decisions of the C ourt of J ustice to date have all involved cases with very similar factual scenarios, and the article hypothesises how a different conclusion might be reached in cases with different factors. It also considers the impact of the C harter of F undamental R ights on such cases. The article concludes by arguing that mandatory retirement policies may no longer be compatible with EU law and that there is a need to move towards more flexible retirement policies.