ECJ lets Greece retire diplomats at 65 after 35 years service

The Court of Justice (Tenth Chamber) has held that Directive 2000/78 does not oppose Greek legislation retiring diplomats automatically at 65Europa once they have completed 35 years of pensionable public service. In its judgment of 22 October 2026 in Case C-359/25 Delevris, given on a reference from the Symvoulio tis Epikrateias, the Court rules that Article 98(1) of Law 3566/2007 may stand, provided it pursues a legitimate employment and labour-market objective and is appropriate and necessary in its legislative context and across all the situations it covers. Officials who at 65 have not completed 35 years stay in service until they complete 35 yearsEuropa, but no further than their 67th year, and ambassadors may have their service extended by up to two years after completing 35 years of service where specific service needs require, but in no case beyond 67.

The directive applies in the first place.Europa A rule that ends a diplomat employment by operation of law at a fixed age governs employment and working conditions, including dismissal, under Article 3(1)(c)Europa, and recital 14, which leaves national retirement ages untouched, does not remove termination rules from the directive scope. On comparability, only a genuinely age-based difference counts.Europa Against diplomats still under 65, who stay in serviceEuropa, automatic termination at 65 establishes a difference of treatment directly based on age producing, among other things, a loss of income.Europa Against diplomats kept until 67 for lack of 35 years service, or against other civil servants, magistrates and professors retiring at 67, the difference of treatment is based not on age but on the number of years of pensionable public service completed and/or the type of service performedEuropa, neither of which figures among the grounds exhaustively listed in Article 1Europa, so it falls outside the directiveEuropa.

That difference of treatment can still be justified under Article 6(1).Europa A balanced age structure securing generational renewal, rejuvenation and young people access to the diplomatic service is a legitimate employment-policy objectiveEuropa, and 65 is a sufficiently advanced age to serve as a cut-offEuropa. The measure is in principle appropriate: Member States enjoy a wide discretion, limited top-qualification posts mean a vacancy must open before a young diplomat can be hired, automatic termination at age-plus-pension conditions is a long-standing labour-law mechanism, and the ambassador extension to 67 serves the parallel goal of keeping the service operational. But the referring court must verify coherence: whether the rule consistently serves those aims given the diplomatic service specificities, and whether different retirement ages across categories of staff reflect a long-standing practice tied to the particular conditions of diplomatic service.

Necessity turns on balance. The national court must weigh young diplomats access against the participation of older officials, their age-related vulnerability and the pension prejudice IS alleges from losing higher pension accrual after 35 years. Automatic retirement at 65 is not excessive where career-end compensation through a pension is not unreasonableEuropa, and here those concerned may be kept in service until 67 with a view to completing their 35 years of pensionable public service. IS was retired with effect from 31 December 2017 and appealed on 7 May 2021; whether the Greek scheme stays within what is necessary is now for the Council of State to decide.

The legal basis is Articles 1, 2, 3(1)(c) and 6(1) of Directive 2000/78, with recital 14, Article 3(3) TEU, Article 98 of Law 3566/2007, Article 155 of Law 3528/2007, and Articles 16(6) and 88(5) of the Greek Constitution.