CORTE DI GIUSTIZIA DELL’UNIONE EUROPEA, prima Sezione – 19 giugno 2014. La cessazione temporanea del rapporto di lavoro a causa della gravidanza non pregiudica lo status di lavoratrice.

in case C-507/11 the Court of Justice of the European Union has been referred the question if a Union citizen who resides and works in a Member State other than her own who temporarily stops working because of the constraints of pregnancy and the immediate aftermath of childbirth is to be treated as a ‘worker’ for the purposes of Article 7 of Directive 2004/38/EC (‘the Citizenship Directive’). indeed, article 7(3) of directive specifies the circumstances in which a migrant who is no longer in an employment relationship may however retain the status of worker but it doesn’t mention pregnancy. in its judgment, the Court of Justice considers that a woman in such that situation can anyway retain the status of ‘worker’. The Court underlines that the notion of ‘worker’ has always been interpreted in a broad way, as long as it defines the scope of a funda- mental freedom provided under the Treaty (the right of EU citizens to move freely within the terri- tory of other Member States and to stay there seeking employment). Moreover, the Court states that the ‘Citizenship Directive’ does not list exhaustively the circumstances in which a migrant worker who is no longer in employment may retain the status of worker and it can’t, in anyway, limit the scope of the concept of worker within the meaning of the TFEU.