A comparative analysis of non-discrimination law in Europe 2019 : the 28 EU Member States, Albania, North Macedonia, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Montenegro, Norway, Serbia and Turkey compared

The objective of this report is to compare and contrast anti-discrimination law in the 28 EU Member States, five EU candidate countries (namely Albania, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey) and the EEA countries (Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway), based on the country reports written by the European network of legal experts in gender equality and non-discrimination, as updated in respect of 2018. The state of play and the major developments are summarised in this publication. The report presents the general trends in European anti-discrimination policy and points out some of the remaining dilemmas in the application of anti-discrimination legislation. It gives an overview of the main substantive issues in both directives: the grounds of discrimination, the definition of grounds and scope, exceptions to the principle of equal treatment and positive action, access to justice and effective enforcement, and equality bodies. All Member States were required to review and amend their existing legislation to comply with the requirements of the directives. The Racial Equality Directive and the Employment Equality Directive had to be transposed into national law by 19 July 2003 and 2 December 2003 respectively in the (then) 15 EU Member States. Countries acceding the EU after this date had to transpose both directives by the date of their accession: 1 May 2004 for 10 new Member States, 1 January 2007 for Bulgaria and Romania, and finally 1 July 2013 for Croatia. The current candidate countries have entered the transposition process and must align their national legislation with EU law by the date on which they enter the EU. EU directives on anti-discrimination are not binding on EEA countries, as the EEA agreement only provides obligations on those countries vis-à-vis EU legislation related to the internal market. National provisions on antidiscrimination exist, but the level of protection offered in practice does not always meet EU standards. It goes beyond the scope of this report to assess the extent to which Member States have fully complied with the directives or to assess the legislative impact of the European directives on the laws of all the countries examined. However, the report could potentially be used as one of the instruments for making such an assessment. During the transposition process, it became apparent that judicial interpretation might be necessary to provide further clarity of some key concepts and provisions. Nineteen years after the adoption of the Directives, both national courts and the Court of Justice of the EU have provided some interpretation to this effect, as will be further developed below. This synthesis overview of the national situation in 36 countries is complemented by the comprehensive country reports. Readers can turn to these country reports for detailed information about the law of a particular country, current as of 1 January 2019.