EU Anti-Discrimination Law beyond Gender

he 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.

Preface
Koen Lenaerts, the President of the Court of Justice of the European Union
1. The Impact of the 2000 Equality Directives on EU Anti-Discrimination Law: Achievements and Pitfalls
Uladzislau Belavusau & Kristin Henrard
Part I Theoretical and Procedural Aspects
2. Multiple Discrimination in EU Anti-Discrimination Law: Towards Redressing Complex Inequality?
Raphaële Xenidis
3. EU Equality Law and Precarious Work
Mark Bell
4. The Effective Protection against Racial Discrimination and the Burden of Proof: Making up the Balance of the Court of Justice's Guidance
Kristin Henrard
5. When Equality Directives are not Enough: Taking an Issue with the Missing Minority Rights Policy in the EU?
Dimitry Kochenov
Part II Race and Ethnicity
6. Eighteen Years of the EU Equality Directive: A Mitigated Balance
Mathias Möschel
7. Romani Marginalisation after the Race Equality Directive
Morag Goodwin
Part III Religion
8. Religious Discrimination in the Workplace: Achbita and Bougnaoui
Eugenia Relaño Pastor
9. Unveiling the Culture of Justification in the European Union: Religious Clothing and the Proportionality Review
Anna Sledzinska-Simon
Part IV Sexual Orientation
10. The Impact of Framework Equality Directive on the Protection of LGB Persons and Same-Sex Couples from Discrimination under EU Law
Alina Tryfonidou
11. EU Law as an (In)Direct Source of LGB Rights
Philip M. Ayoub
Part V Age
12. Justifying Age Discrimination in the EU
Rachel Horton
13. EU Age Discrimination Law: A Curse or a Blessing for EU Youth Policy?