The European year of equal opportunities for all - 2007: Is the EU moving away from a formal idea of equality?

European Law Journal

Volumn 14, Issue 2, 2008, Pages 168-185

  Howard, Erica ^a  

^a MIDDLESEX UNIVERSITY BUSINESS SCHOOL   (United Kingdom)

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[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 65249098400     PISSN: 13515993     EISSN: 14680386     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-0386.2007.00409.x     Document Type: Article

References (95)

1. In 2000 two Directives and an Action Programme against discrimination were adopted: Council Directive 2000/43/EC of 29 June 2000 implementing the Principle of Equal Treatment between Persons irrespective of Racial or Ethnic Origin, [2000] OJ L180/22 ('the Race Directive');
2. Council Directive 2000/78/EC of 27 November 2000 establishing a General Framework for Equal Treatment in Employment and Occupation, [2000] OJ L303/16 ('the Framework Directive');
3. and Council Decision 2000/750/EC of 27 November 2000 establishing a Community Action Programme to combat Discrimination (2001 to 2006), [2000] OJ L303/23 ('the Action Programme').
4. Measures against gender discrimination have been in place in the EU from 1975. The main Directive is Council Directive 76/207/EEC on the Implementation of the Principle of Equal Treatment for Men and Women as Regards Access to Employment, Vocational Training and Promotion, and Working Conditions, [1976] OJ L39/40 ('the Equal Treatment Directive').
5. The latter has been amended to bring it more in line with the Race and Framework Directives by Council Directive 2002/73/EC of 23 September 2002 amending Council Directive 76/207/EEC, [2002] OJ L269/15 ('the Equal Treatment (Amendment) Directive').
6. Council Directive 2004/113/EC of 13 December 2004 implementing the Principle of Equal Treatment between Men and Women in the Access to and the Supply of Goods and Services, [2004] OJ L373/37 ('the Equal Treatment (Goods) Directive') extended the provisions against gender discrimination to include access to and the supply of goods and services. In the following, 'the Equality Directives' will refer to the Race Directive, the Framework Directive, the Equal Treatment Directive as amended by the Equal Treatment (Amendment) Directive and the Equal Treatment (Goods) Directive.
7. Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, Non-Discrimination and Equal Opportunities for All - A Framework Strategy, COM (2005) 224.
8. Proposal for a Decision of the European Parliament and the Council on the European Year of Equal Opportunities for All (2007) Towards a Just Society, COM (2005) 225. In the following, 'the Year' will refer to the European Year of Equal Opportunities for All.
9. See on this, eg, N. Lacey, 'Legislation Against Sex Discrimination: Questions from a Feminist Perspective', (1987) 14:4 Journal of Law and Society 411;
10. J. Gregory, Sex, Race and the Law: Legislating for Equality (London: Sage, 1987);
11. K. O'Donovan and E. Szyszczak, Equality and Sex Discrimination Law (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1988), at 1-20;
12. M. MacEwen, Tackling Racism in Europe: An Examination of Anti-Discrimination Law in Practice (Oxford: Berg, 1995), at 23-25;
13. I. Bacik, 'Combating Discrimination: The Affirmative Action Approach', in R. Byrne and W. Duncan (eds), Developments in Discrimination Law in Ireland and Europe (Dublin: Irish Centre for European Law, 1997), 119-130, at 119-121;
14. R. Townshend-Smith, Discrimination Law: Text, Cases and Materials (London: Cavendish Publishing, 1998), at 61-86;
15. C. Barnard, 'The Principle of Equality in the Community Context: P, Grant, Kalanke and Marschall: Four Uneasy Bedfellows?', (1998) 57:2 Cambridge Law Journal 352;
16. C. Barnard, 'Article 13: Through the Looking Glass of Union Citizenship', in D. O'Keeffe and P. Twomey (eds), Legal Issues of the Amsterdam Treaty (Oxford: Hart Publishing, 1999), 375-395;
17. K. Wentholt, 'Formal and Substantive Equal Treatment: The Limitations and the Potential of the Legal Concept of Equality', in T. Loenen and P. Rodrigues (eds), Non-Discrimination Law: Comparative Perspectives (The Hague: Kluwer, 1999), 53-64;
18. C. Barnard and B. Hepple, 'Substantive Equality', (2000) 59 Cambridge Law Journal 562;
19. C. Barnard, 'The Changing Scope of the Fundamental Principle of Equality?', (2001) 46:4 McGill Law Journal 955;
20. S. Fredman, 'Introduction' and 'Combating Racism with Human Rights: The Right to Equality', in S. Fredman (ed.), Discrimination and Human Rights The Case of Racism (Oxford: University Press, 2001), 1-44;
21. S. Fredman, 'Equality: A New Generation?', (2001) 30:2 Industrial Law Journal 145;
22. S. Fredman, Discrimination Law (Oxford: Clarendon Law Series, 2002);
23. and D. Schiek, 'A New Framework on Equal Treatment of Persons in EC Law?', (2002) 8:2 European Law Journal 290.
24. Fredman, Discrimination Law, op cit n 4 supra, at 7.
25. Bacik, op cit n 4 supra, at 119-120.
26. Discussion of this falls outside the subject of this article. For more information, the reader is referred to Bacik; Fredman, 'Equality: A New Generation?';
27. Fredman, Discrimination Law; Barnard and Hepple;
28. and Schiek, all op cit n 4 supra.
29. Townshend-Smith, op. cit. note 4 supra, at 61.
30. ibid, at 73.
31. ibid, at 80.
32. O'Donovan and Szyszczak, op cit n 4 supra, at 6.
33. Fredman, 'Combating Racism with Human Rights: The Right to Equality', op cit n 4 supra, at 20.
34. Gregory, op cit n 4 supra, at 64-65.
35. MacEwen, op cit n 4 supra, at 24.
36. Op cit n 1 supra.
37. See, eg, Art 2(2)(b) of the Race Directive. EU law is not the only legislation to allow for justification of indirect discrimination. Most national and international legal measures against indirect discrimination do so as well. Sometimes justification of direct discrimination is also allowed. The Race and Equal Treatment (Amendment) Directives do not allow for justification of direct discrimination, but the Equal Treatment (Goods) Directive allows for justification of direct discrimination in Art 4(5) and the Framework Directive allows for justification of direct age discrimination in Art 6.
38. Proposal for a Council Directive implementing the Principle of Equal Treatment between Persons irrespective of Racial or Ethnic Origin, COM (1999) 566, at 6. In my view Art 4 in this quote should read Art 5.
39. Case C-312/86, Commission v France [1888] ECR 6315, para 15. This is repeated in Case C-450/93, Kalanke v Freie Hansestadt Bremen [1995] ECR I-3051, para 18;
40. and Case C-409/95, Marschall v Land Nordrhein- Westfalen [1997] ECR I-6363, para 26.
41. Case C-136/95, CNAVTS v E. Thibault [1998] ECR I-2011, para 26. Case C-158/97, Badeck's Application [2000] ECR I-1875, para 32, Case C-407/ 98, Abrahamsson and Anderson v Fogelqvist [2000] ECR I-5539, para 48 and Case C-319/03, Serge Briheche v Mnistre de l'Interieur, Ministre de l'Education Nationale and Ministre de la Justice, judgment of 30 September 2004, para 25, all combine what the ECJ held in Commission v France, op cit n 18 supra, and in Thibault.
42. See, eg, Kalanke and Marschall, op cit n 18 supra;
43. Badeck's Application and Abrahamsson, op cit n 19 supra. For a detailed discussion of positive action and the different concepts of equality, including the cases mentioned,
44. see Fredman, Discrimination Law, op cit n 4 supra, at 125-160.
45. M. Poiares Maduro, 'The European Court of Justice and Anti-Discrimination Law', (2005) 2 European Anti-Discrimination Law Review 21, at 25.
46. Schiek, op cit n 4 supra, at 299.
47. 'Article 13 EC Directives' refers to the Race, Framework, Equal Treatment (Amendment) and Equal Treatment (Goods) Directives, which were all adopted on the basis of Article 13 EC.
48. Poiares Maduro, op cit n 21 supra, at 26.
49. Case C-476/99, Lommers vMinisterie van Landbouw, Natuurbeheer en Visserij [2002] ECR I-2891, para 37.
50. L. Waddington and M. Bell, 'More Equal than Others: Distinguishing European Union Equality Directives', (2001) 38 Common Market Law Review 587, at 602.
51. See also C. Brown, 'The Race Directive: Towards Equality for All the Peoples of Europe?', (2002) 21 Yearbook of European Law 195, at 204.
52. Waddington and Bell, op cit n 26 supra.
53. Communication from the Commission, An Action Plan Against Racism, COM (1998) 183, at 3.
54. Constitution of the European Union, [2004] OJ C310/1.
55. For a report onmainstreaming in the EU, see J. Shaw, Mainstreaming Equality in European Union Law and Policy Making (Brussels: European Network Against Racism, 2004).
56. M. Bell, 'Equality and the European Constitution', (2004) 33:3 Industrial Law Journal 242, at 255.
57. See, eg, Resolution of the Council and the Representatives of the Governments of the Member States, meeting within the Council of 23 July 1996 concerning the European Year against Racism (1997), [1996] OJ C237/ 1, Arts 1(e), 1(f) and 2(d); Report from the Commission on the Implementation of the European Year against Racism (1997), COM (1999) 268, at 24;
58. An Action Plan Against Racism, op cit n 28 supra, at 3; and Council Decision of 3/12/2001 on the European Year of People with Disabilities 2003, [2001] OJ L335/15, Art 2(e).
59. Council Resolution on the 1999 Employment Guidelines, [1999] OJ C69/2, point I-9. For information on the Employment Strategy in relation to the fight against racism, see M. Bell, 'Combating Racial Discrimination Through the European Employment Strategy', in J. Bell and C. Kilpatrick (eds), Cambridge Yearbook of European Legal Studies 2003-2004, Vol 6 (Oxford: Hart, 2005), 55-71.
60. See Employment Guidelines, [2000] OJ L72/15, guideline 9; [2001] OJ L22/ 18, guideline 7; [2002] OJ L60/60, guideline 7; and [2003] OJ L197/13, guideline 7.
61. J. M. Barroso, Speech to the European Parliament (SPEECH/04/47, 26 October 2004), available at http://www.europa.eu.int/rapid/ pressReleasesAction.do?reference=SPEECH/04/474&format=PDF&aged =1&language=EN&guiLanguage=en.
62. Opening Address by Commissioner V. Spidla to the EU Dutch Presidency Conference on Anti- Discrimination, Scheveningen, Equality in the Europe of Tomorrow (22 November 2004), at 4, available at http://www.ec.europa.eu/employment_social/emplweb/spidla/index_en.cfm.
63. Opening Address by Commissioner V. Spidla to the EU Luxembourg Presidency Conference on Anti-Discrimination, Mondorf-les-Bains, Mainstreaming Diversity (27 June 2005), available at http://www.ec.europa.eu/employment_social/emplweb/spidla/index_en.cfm.
64. Equal Rights in Practice, News Review of the Community Action Programme to combat Discrimination (2005), Vol 4, at 2, available at http://www.ec.europa.eu/comm/employment_social/fundamental_rights/ index_en.htm.
65. op cit n 2 supra.
66. op cit n 3 supra.
67. July 2005 Spotlight, Commission Adopts Policy Communication on Anti-discrimination, available at http://www.ec.europa.eu/ employment_social/fundamental_rights/spot/july05_en.htm.
68. op cit n 2 supra, at 2.
69. ibid, at 6.
70. ibid, at 8-9 (emphasis added).
71. ibid, at 9-10.
72. ibid, at 12.
73. op cit n 3 supra, at 2.
74. ibid, at 2-5 and Art 2.
75. ibid, at 25.
76. op cit n 2 supra, at 6-7.
77. SEC (2001) 380, at 2. A methodology for systematic and rigorous monitoring, based on this SEC document has been set out in Communication from the Commission, Compliance with the Charter of Fundamental Rights in Commission Legislative Proposals, COM (2005) 172.
78. See also President Barroso Proposes a New Framework to 'Lock-In' a Culture of Fundamental Rights in EU Legislation (IP/05/494, 27 April 2005). All EU Press Releases are available at http://www.europa.eu/rapid/.
79. Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, [2000] OJ C364/1 ('the Charter'). The EU Council approved the Charter in October 2000, but it was not included in the Treaty agreed in Nice in December 2000. The Charter has become Part II of the Draft European Constitution, op cit n 29 supra. It has, as yet, no legal force.
80. Articles II-80 and II-81.
81. op cit n 2 supra, at 7-9.
82. ibid, at 10.
83. op cit n 3 supra, at 15-17.
84. Annual Plan of Work and Budget Breakdown (January-December 2006), available at http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/ fundamental_rights/pdf/prog/planprogbud2006_en.pdf.
85. Commission Decision 2006/33/EC of 20 January 2006 establishing a High-level Advisory Group on Social Integration of Ethnic Minorities and their full Participation in the Labour Market, [2006] OJ L21/20.
86. See also IP/06/149 of 13 February 2006, available at http://www.europa.eu/rapid/.
87. 2007 starts Today: 'European Year of Equal Opportunities for All' Gets Green Light (IP/06/712, 1 June 2006), available at http://www.europa.eu/ rapid/.
88. See the website available at http://www.ec.europa.eu/employment_social/ equality2007/index_en.htm.
89. See, eg, the authors mentioned in op cit n 4 supra.
90. op cit n 2 supra, at 6.
91. In December 2006, the following studies were issued: A. McColgan, J. Niessen and F. Palmer, Comparative Analyses on National Measures to combat Discrimination outside Employment and Occupation. A Mapping Study on Existing National Legislative Measures - and their Impact in - Tackling Discrimination outside the Field of Employment and Occupation on the Grounds of Sex, Religion or Belief, Disability, Age and Sexual Orientation (VT/2005/062), Strand 1, available at http://ec.europa.eu/ employment_social/fundamental_rights/pdf/pubst/stud/mapstrand1_en.pdf,
92. and Strand 2 (entitled Comparative Analysis of Existing Impact Assessments of Anti-Discrimination Legislation), available at http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/fundamental_rights/pdf/pubst/stud/ mapstrand2_en.pdf (both Human European Consultancy/Migration Policy Group, December 2006).
93. The Commission also launched a public consultation on new anti-discrimination measures; see Commission Launches Public Consultation on New Anti-DiscriminationMeasures (IP/07/1006, 4 July 2007), available at http://europa.eu/rapid/. This article was written in August/September 2006 and has, therefore, not taken these studies into account.
94. COM (1999) 268, op cit n 32 supra, at 20.
95. ibid, at 24.