“Taking Stock of Twenty Years of EU Equality Law and Policymaking and Looking Ahead”
| Date | 01 June 2018 |
| Published date | 01 June 2018 |
| Author | Ania Zbyszewska,Sara Benedi Lahuerta |
| DOI | 10.1177/1358229118788452 |
| Subject Matter | Editorial |
Editorial
“Taking Stock of Twenty
Years of EU Equality
Law and Policymaking
and Looking Ahead”
Sara Benedi Lahuerta
1
and Ania Zbyszewska
2
Guest Editorial
The development of equality legislation at European Union (EU) level is one of the
major achievements of the European integration project, and its role in driving advances
in equality law and policy in many EU member states is undeniable. Year 2019 will mark
two decades since the Treaty of Amsterdam came into force in 1999. The latter intro-
duced former Article 13 of the Treaty Establishing the European Community (current
Article 19 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union), thereby expanding
the legal base for adopting EU legislation to six new anti-discrimination grounds,
namely: race or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age, and sexual orientation.
This anniversary provides an auspicious moment for not only taking stock of accom-
plishments and critically reflecting on the past, but also for moving forward. Indeed, the
recent adoption of the European Pillar of Social Rights (‘the Pillar’) suggests that EU
equality law and policy could now be at a pivotal point. Accordingly, the contributions in
this special issue engage not only with the evolution with EU equality law since its
inception but also with this new context; they also point to what might be a possible way
ahead for this key area of EU acquis.
The papers that follow originate from the Economic and Social Research Council
(ESRC)-funded project entitled Rethinking EU Equality Law: Towards a More Coherent
and Sustainable Regime. This latter initiative emerged from previous collaboration
1
University of Southampton, School of Law, Southampton, UK
2
University of Warwick, School of Law, Coventry, UK
Corresponding author:
Sara Benedi Lahuerta, University of Southampton Law School, University Rd, Southampton SO17
1TR, UK.
Email: s.benedi-lahuerta@soton.ac.uk
International Journalof
Discrimination and theLaw
2018, Vol. 18(2-3) 55–59
ªThe Author(s) 2018
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DOI: 10.1177/1358229118788452
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