European Union – Equality of treatment of men and women. Article 24 of Directive (EC) 2006/54 should be interpreted as meaning that it precluded national legislation under which, in a situation where a person who believed to be discriminated against on grounds of sex had lodged a complaint, an employee who had supported that person in that context was protected from retaliatory measures taken by the employer solely if that employee had intervened as a witness in the context of the investigation of that complaint and that that employee's witness statement satisfied formal requirements laid down by that legislation. The Court of Justice of the European Union so held in a preliminary ruling in proceedings concerning the award of compensation to the second applicant as a result of her dismissal.