33As the Court has consistently held, Article 2(4) of Directive 76/207 is specifically and exclusively designed to authorise measures which, although discriminatory in appearance, are in fact intended to eliminate or reduce actual instances of inequality which may exist in society. That provision thus authorises national measures relating to access to employment, including promotion, which give a specific advantage to women with a view to improving their ability to compete on the labour market and to pursue a career on an equal footing with men (see Case C-450/93 Kalanke [1995] ECR I-3051, paragraphs 18 and 19; Case C-409/95 Marschall [1997] ECR I-6363, paragraphs 26 and 27; Case C-158/97 Badeck and Others [2000] ECR I-1875, paragraph 19; and Lommers, paragraph 32).
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