EU Anti-Discrimination Law Beyond Gender

Description

The EU has slowly but surely developed a solid body of equality law that prohibits different facets of discrimination. While the Union had initially developed anti-discrimination norms that served only the commercial rationale of the common market, focusing on nationality (of a Member State) and gender as protected grounds, the Treaty of Amsterdam (1997) supplied five additional prohibited grounds of discrimination to the EU legislative palette, in line with a much broader egalitarian rationale. In 2000, two EU Equality Directives followed, one focusing on race and ethnic origin, the other covering the remaining four grounds introduced by the Treaty of Amsterdam, namely religion, sexual orientation, disabilities and age. Eighteen years after the adoption of the watershed Equality Directives, it seems timely to dedicate a book to their limits and prospects, to look at the progress made, and to revisit the rise of EU anti-discrimination law beyond gender. This volume sets out to capture the striking developments and shortcomings that have taken place in the interpretation of relevant EU secondary law. Firstly, the book unfolds an up-to-date systematic reappraisal of the five ‘newer’ grounds of discrimination, which have so far received mostly fragmented coverage. Secondly, and more generally, the volume captures how and to what extent the Equality Directives have enabled or, at times, prevented the Court of Justice of the European Union from developing even broader and more refined anti-discrimination jurisprudence. Thus, the book offers a glimpse into the past, present and – it is hoped – future of EU anti-discrimination law as, despite all the flaws in the Union’s ‘Garden of Earthly Delights’, it offers one of the highest standards of protection in comparative anti-discrimination law. Foreword by Koen Lenaerts, President of the Court of Justiceof the European Union Acknowledgements Contents List of Contributors List of Abbreviations 1. The Impact of the 2000 Equality Directives on EU Anti-Discrimination Law: Achievements and Pitfalls I. Introduction II. A Brief History of EU Anti-Discrimination Law III. Major Trends and Themes since the Adoption of the 2000 Equality Directives IV. Overview of chapters V. Conclusions PART I: THEORETICAL AND PROCEDURAL ASPECTS 2. Multiple Discrimination in EU Anti-Discrimination Law: Towards Redressing Complex Inequality? I. Introduction II. The Emergence of the Issue of Multiple Discrimination in the EU III. Differentiated Protection Against Multiple Discrimination IV. Remedying Multiple Discrimination:Obstacles and Resistance V. Conclusion 3. EU Equality Law and Precarious Work I. Introduction II. Gender Equality Directives and Precarious Work III. Age Equality and Precarious Work IV. Conclusion 4. The Effective Protection against Discrimination and the Burdenof Proof: Evaluating the CJEU’s Guidance Through the Lens of Race I. Introduction II. Feryn and Chez: Clarifications about the Scope of Application of the Racial Discrimination Prohibition III. Sharing the Burden of Proof: Setting the Scene IV. The Sharing of the Burden of Proof and the Distinction between Direct and Indirect Discrimination V. Conclusion 5. When Equality Directives Are Not Enough: Taking an Issue with the Missing Minority Rights Policy in the EU I. Introduction: Minority Groups beyond the Directives II. General Context of Minority Protection in the EU III. Migrant EU Citizens IV. Indirect Minority Protection: An Almost Pessimistic Balance Sheet V. Conclusion PART II: RACE AND ETHNICITY 6. Eighteen Years of Race Equality Directive: A Mitigated Balance I. Introduction II. Successes III. Failures or Shortcomings IV. Future 7. Romani Marginalisation after the Race Equality Directive I. Introduction II. Romani Margninalisation then and now III. So What has the Directive Achieved? IV. Respecting 'Relevant' Difference? V. Concluding Reflections PART III: RELIGION 8. Religious Discrimination in the Workplace: Achbita and Bougnaoui I. Introduction II. Complex Questions Raised by the AG Opinions in Achbita and Bougnaoui: Religion, Personal Identity, Neutrality and Causality III. The CJEU Judgments in Achbita and Bouganoui, Religious Equality and Duties of Reasonable Accommodation IV. An Opportunity to Improve EU Anti-discrimination Law 9. Unveiling the Culture of Justification in the European Union: Religious Clothing and the Proportionality Review I. Introduction II. Limits to the Protection againstReligious Discrimination in EU Law III. The Prohibition of Discrimination and its Limits IV. Proportionality Test V. Proportionality of a Veil Ban VI. Justification Analysis in the Veil BanCases before the CJEU VII. Conclusions PART IV: SEXUAL ORIENTATION 10. The Impact of the Framework Equality Directive on the Protection of LGB Persons and Same-Sex Couples from Discrimination under EU Law I. Introduction II. LGB Rights under EU Law before the Introduction of the Framework Equality Directive III. Directive 2000/78 IV. Other (Actual or Potential) Sources of Legal Protection of LGB Persons and Same-Sex Couples from Discrimination under EU Law V. Conclusion 11. EU Law as an (In)Direct Source of LGB Rights across Europe I. Introduction II. Explaining the Diffusion of Rights Legislation III. Conclusions PART V: AGE 12. Justifying Age Discrimination in the EU I. Introduction II. Age as a Protected Ground III. The Case Law of the CJEU IV. Conclusion 13. EU Age Discrimination Law: A Curse or a Blessing for EU Youth Policy? I. Introduction II. EU Youth Policy III. EU Age-discrimination Law IV. Age Discrimination of Young Peoplein CJEU’s Case Law V. Analysis of EU Age-discrimination Case Law:Its Implications for EU Youth Policy PART VI: DISABILITY 14. Breaking Down Barriers? The Judicial Interpretation of 'Disability' and 'Reasonable Accommodation' in EU Anti-Discrimination Law I. Introduction II. EU Disability Law: An Overview III. Who is 'Disabled'? The Definition of Disability in EU Law IV. What is Reasonable? The Duty of Reasonable Accommodation in EU Law V. Conclusion 15. The Influence of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on EU Anti-Discrimination Law I. Introduction II. Setting the Scene III. The Influence of the CRPD on the CJEU'S Interpretation of the Framework Equality Directive IV. The Influence of the CRPD on the 2008 Proposal for a New EU Equality Directive V. The UN CRPD Committee's Concluding Observations on the EU VI. Conclusion Epilogue: The Limits of a Transformative Change in European Equality Law Index