European Union – Employment. The Court of Justice of the European Union gave a preliminary ruling in which it decided that art 2(2)(a) of Council Directive (EC) 2000/78 had to be interpreted as meaning that the prohibition on wearing an Islamic headscarf, which arose from an internal rule of a private undertaking prohibiting the visible wearing of any political, philosophical or religious sign in the workplace, did not constitute direct discrimination based on religion or belief within the meaning of that directive.