SPAIN - A European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling on a Spanish legal challenge that could affect occupational pension schemes is expected to be made in August.

Félix Palacios de la Villa, 65, has taken his employer, clothing company Cortefiel Servicios SA, to court claiming that the default retirement age of 65 constituted age discrimination. The case is now to be heard by the ECJ.

If Palacios de la Villa wins and is allowed to continue working rather than being forced to take his occupational pension and retire, it could have widespread consequences for occupational pension funds across the EU, lawyers said.

Pension law firm Sackers & Partners said earlier this month that the case could have significant effects for pension schemes exempted from age discrimination legislation and could also negatively affect workers with occupational pension schemes.

Faith Dickson, partner at the company, explained: "There is a massive concern with cases going to the European Court of Justice. If these cases are successful then exemptions for UK pensions might fall away. Who knows what pension regulations will start to be chipped away? It could have a ‘house of cards' effect."

In the Spanish case, advocate-general Mazák at the ECJ said that the EU Equal Treatment Framework does not apply to state laws setting retirement age.

If the framework did apply, a national provision setting a retirement age would be justified, he argued. This decision is not binding, and according to a Sacker spokesman it varies if the court follows the opinion of the advocate-general, which was put out in February.

The spokesman told IPE he expects the ruling to be made in August. No date has been allocated on the ECJ's agenda so far.

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