C. A provision with direct effect
The Court has considered Article 6(2), in conjunction with the provisions on the reference period, as fulfilling all the conditions necessary to produce direct effect (201). Despite the possible adjustments of the reference period applicable to the maximum weekly working time, the Court stated that ‘[t]he latitude allowed does not make it impossible to determine minimum rights’ and that the provisions were precise and unconditional (202). As a consequence, the Court held that Article 6(2) of the Directive confers a ‘right on individuals whereby the reference period for the implementation of the maximum duration of their weekly working time must not exceed 12 months’ (203). Nevertheless, the Directive cannot in itself impose obligations on an individual and therefore cannot be applied in proceedings exclusively between private parties (‘horizontal direct effect’) (204). However, it is in any event the responsibility of the national courts to provide the legal protection which an individual derives from that rule and therefore to interpret national law, as far as possible, in the light of the wording and the purpose of the Directive, in order to achieve the desired result (205). In addition, the direct effect of a provision also enables citizens to rely directly on it in actions against the state or public bodies which are ‘emanations of the state’ such as regional authorities, cities and towns or communes (206), including in their capacity as employers, where they have failed to transpose a provision into national law or transposed it incorrectly (207) (‘vertical direct effect’). This may in turn lead to the application of the principle of State liability for loss or damage caused to individuals as a result of breaches of EU law. The State can then be held responsible and have to grant individuals a right to reparation under certain conditions, which have to be examined by the national courts (208). It should be pointed out that an exception would remain where the Member State concerned has used a relevant derogation such as that for autonomous workers or the individual opt-out. However, this is subject to compliance with all the conditions set out for the concerned derogations under the Directive (209).
Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-09-25 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.