§4 Direct effect of the right to paid annual leave

In case a national provision conflicts with Article 7 of the Directive, the Court has held that national courts must ‘interpret [domestic law], so far as possible, in the light of the wording and the purpose of the directive concerned in order to achieve the result sought by the directive’ (284). According to the Court, this requires national courts to do ‘whatever lies within their jurisdiction, taking the whole body of domestic law into consideration and applying the interpretative methods recognised by it, with a view to ensuring that the directive in question is fully effective and to achieving an outcome consistent with the objective pursued by it’ (285). It also entails ‘the obligation for national courts to change established case-law, where necessary, if it is based on an interpretation of national law that is incompatible with the objectives of a directive’ (286). Furthermore, the Court has held that both paragraphs 1 and 2 of Article 7 satisfy the criteria for direct effect, being unconditional, unequivocal and precise (287). This means that, if a Member State has failed to transpose this provision into national law or has transposed it incorrectly, an individual can go to the national courts to enforce the entitlement to at least four weeks paid annual leave against the State or public bodies, in their capacity either as employers or as public authorities (288). The national courts are, in that regard, required to disapply the conflicting national legislation (289). While it is normally not possible to invoke the ‘direct effect’ of a directive in proceedings between private parties (290), the Court upheld ‘horizontal’ direct effect of Article 31(2) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights based on the qualification of the right to paid annual leave as an essential principle of European Union social law (291). In proceedings between private parties, this would impose on national courts the obligation to ensure the full effectiveness of the right to paid annual leave, including by disapplying if need be any provision of national legislation contrary to that principle (292). The horizontal direct effect of Article 31(2) applies only to the minimum of four weeks of paid annual leave and not to any rights that exceed this minimum nor to the conditions for any carrying over of such additional rights (293). Entitlement to an allowance in lieu of paid annual leave Article 7(2) provides that: ‘2. the minimum period of paid annual leave may not be replaced by an allowance in lieu, except where the employment relationship is terminated.’

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-09-07