In Kücükdeveci judgment, the European Court of Justice declared that national judges must set aside national norms that are at variance with the general principle of non discrimination on grounds of age, by virtue of its direct applicability (even in disputes between private parties). This principle is also codified in the Charter of Fundamental Rights and in the EC Directive 2000/78, therefore it is worth analyzing these three sources in turn (general principles, Charter, directives) to understand which of them can have horizontal direct effects, and upon which conditions. In addition to that, the author focuses on the validity of an "incidental direct effects" doctrine, and on the repercussions that this decision might have on the social cohesion of the European Union
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