As usual, there is much hyperbole on this subject. This does not help those in search of information.
An EU directive is an instruction to member states to implement the aims of the directive (in this case, the elimination of discrimination on the grounds of age) by means of domestic legislation. This directive requires the domestic legislation to be in effect by late 2006.
The UK legislation required to satisfy this directive has yet to be published, hence anyone purporting to state what will or will not happen in 2006 is speaking through an orifice not normally associated with that function.
What is known, is that the directive will have no effect on the French over 60 ban (national retirement ages are permitted by the directive).
The government has also intimated that certain occupations will be exempt from the legislation. The example given was ATCOs. No-one knows if pilots will be exempt, and if so, to to what extent.
The UK government has indicated that it may introduce a default retirement age of 65. If this comes to pass, employees over this age will not be eligible to claim discrimination if made to retire. The government has also suggested that employers will be able to continue to enforce a retirement age of less that 65 if this can be justified (by the employer). This means that BA will be able to continue to enforce a retirement age of 55 if they can justify it.
Whether or not employees will be able to mount a legal challenge against their employer’s retirement age remains to be seen as, again, the legislation has yet to be published.
The legal world is full of suggestions that the government’s proposals, if implemented as intimated, will not comply with the directive. One thing that is certain is that employees will not be able to use the directive as a basis to challenge their employers – EU law forbids this. The only remedy would be an action against the UK government for failure to comply with the directive. The last time that this was tried (successfully, in the Spanish Trawlers dispute), it took eight years to resolve.
Looks like a good time to be a lawyer…