The authority of European law: Do we still believe in it?

Cases C-105/14 Taricco and Others, ECLI:EU:C:2015:555, and C-42/17, M.A.S and MB (Taricco II), ECLI:EU:C:2017:936.

Statistics published by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)—a club of the richest 34 states looking at employment and economics figures—show that, in reality, Germans retire earlier than their southern European counterparts. The average “effective retirement age” shows that in 2009, German men retired when they were 61.8 years old, the same as Spaniards and slightly earlier than Greeks (61.9), but Portuguese stayed on until they were 67. Greek women, meanwhile, retire a few months earlier than their German counterparts: at 59.6 years compared to 60.5 years. But Spanish and Portuguese women still work longer, for another 3 years on average. Southerners also have a similar amount of holidays to those in Germany. According to German law, workers can have at least 20 holidays a year, but these vary from state to state and can go up to 30 days. Greek workers are also entitled to 20 days of vacation and once they have worked for more than 10 years, they get another 5 days on top. Portuguese workers go on holiday for 22 days and Spaniards for 21.

Sarmiento (2018).