The transposition of the EU Equality Directives

In 2000 the European Commission adopted two very significant directives to strengthen equality and equal opportunities across Europe. The Race Equality Directive (2000/43/EC) and Employment Equality Directive (2000/78/EC) provide minimal requirements to guarantee protection against discrimination on the grounds of race or ethnicity, gender, disability, sexual orientation, religion or belief, and age.     

Since 2000 EU member states and accession countries have either developed existing anti-discrimination legislation or have created new comprehensive legislation to meet the standards of the Directives. Some have exceeded the directives while many have failed to fully implement them. The need now is to ensure that the new legislation is adequately implemented to guarantee access to justice and protection against discrimination.

Useful links

2007 - European Year of Equal Opportunities for All

European Commission – Anti-Discrimination Unit

European Commission – Stop Discrimination Information Campaign