France 's top administrative court has ordered Ryanair and Easyjet to apply French labour laws for staff operating out of the country.
The two low-cost carriers had appealed against a decree introduced last year that obliged foreign airlines to apply French labour laws for crews of aircraft based here.
Ryanair said the decree contravened European laws on the free movement of labour and services.
But France 's Conseil d'État this week threw out the complaint and ordered both airlines to pay €2,500 in judicial costs, the court said in a statement today.
The liberalisation of the European services industry is a sensitive issue in France, where opposition to sweeping liberalisation was a major factor in French voters' rejection of the European Union constitution in 2005.