Equality and Diversity: Challenges for EU Anti-Discrimination Law
| Published date | 01 September 2006 |
| DOI | 10.1177/1023263X0601300301 |
| Date | 01 September 2006 |
| Subject Matter | Editorial |
13 MJ 3 (2006) 277
EDITORIAL
EQUALITY AND DIVERSITY: CHALLENGES
FOR EU ANTIDISCRIMINATION LAW
Guest Editors: M B and L W*
A turning point in the development of EU anti-discrimination law occurred with the
insertion of Article 13 into the EC Treaty in 1999. is opened the door to the adoption
in 2000 of the ‘Race Directive’1, prohibiting discrimination on grounds of racial or ethnic
origin in employment and also other elds, such as education, social protection and
access to goods and services. e Race Directive was accompanied in the same year by
the ‘Employment Equality’ Directive2, which prohibits discrimination on the grounds of
religion or belief, disability, age and sexual orientation in the elds of employment and
vocational training.
Whilst the Directives clearly have had an impact in states where such provisions
were not previously a feature of domestic legislation, they have also required revisions to
national law in those states where anti-discrimination law was already well-established.
is special issue focuses on the impact of the Directives on two states with mature
systems of anti-discrimination law: the UK and the Netherlands. Both already possessed
prior to 2000 a rather elaborate legislative framework and had an active body of case-law
interpreting these statutes. In addition, both states possessed specialised equality bodies.
In furthering this research, nancial support was provided under the British Council–
NWO Partnership Programme in Science for the organisation of a conference bringing
together academics from both countries. is was held in May 2005 and facilitated by the
Centre for European Law and Integration of the University of Leicester, in cooperation
with the Faculty of Law of Maastricht University. e articles in this issue arise out of that
conference and we are grateful to the participants for their contributions to the debate.
e articles by Lucy Vickers and Janneke Gerards consider the impact of the Directives
on the legislative frameworks within the UK and the Netherlands respectively. In both
cases, the Directives required the extension of anti-discrimination law to new grounds:
religion or belief (UK), disability (the Netherlands), sexual orientation (UK), age (UK
and the Netherlands). In addition, existing laws on race discrimination had to be revised
* Dr. Mark Bell, Reader in Law, Centre for European Law and Integration, University of Leicester; Professor
Lisa Waddington, European Disability Forum Chair in European Disability Law, Maastricht University.
1 Directive 2000/43, [2000] O.J. L180/22.
2 Directive 2000/78, [2000] O.J. L303/16.
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