Palacios de la Villa v Cortefiel Servicios SA (C-411/05) [2007] IRLR 989 is European Union law case, concerning age discrimination law. Facts When reaching the age of 65, Mr Palacios was notified of the automatic termination of his contract of employment on the ground that he had reached the compulsory retirement age as provided for in art.19(3) of a collective agreement and that, on July 2, 2005, a national law had been published, a single transitional provision which authorised such a measure. That single transitional provision provided that: “clauses in collective agreements concluded prior to the entry into force of this Law, which provide for the termination of contracts of employment where workers have reached normal retirement age, shall be lawful provided it is ensured that the workers concerned have completed the minimum period of contributions and satisfy the other requirements laid down in social security legislation for entitlement to a retirement pension under their contribution regime”. Mr Palacios fulfilled the last two conditions. He brought an action before the referring Court, requested that this notification be declared null and void on the ground that it was in breach of his fundamental rights and, more particularly, his right not to be discriminated against on the ground of age, since the measure was based solely on the fact that he had reached the age of 65. The referring Court, inter alia, asked whether the prohibition of any discrimination based on age in employment and occupation must be interpreted as meaning that it precluded national legislation such as that in the main proceedings, pursuant to which compulsory retirement clauses contained in collective agreements were regarded as lawful, where such clauses provided as sole requirements that workers must have reached retirement age, set at 65 years by the national legislation, and must fulfil the other social security conditions for entitlement to draw a contributory retirement pension. Judgment The European Court of Justice decided that national legislation was not prohibited under Directive 2000/78/EC. It did fall under Article 2, because, Directive 2000/78 was applicable to a situation such as that giving rise to the dispute before the national court. [42-7] The aim of the Directive was to combat certain types of discrimination, including discrimination on grounds of age, as regards employment and occupation with a view to putting into effect in the Member States the principle of equal treatment. National legislation such as that