An Overview and Critical Analysis of the EU Anti-Racism Legal Framework

Abstract

The EU places equality and the respect for human rights at the heart of its constitutional framework. In fact, the principle of equality has been an element of the Union’s foundations from its early days, firstly developed within the context of gender equality. The anti-discrimination framework was extensively expanded with the Treaty of Amsterdam which added further grounds for discrimination including those of race or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation and granted specific power to EU institutions to take appropriate action to combat discrimination based on these grounds. Since then, major steps have been taken in developing the anti-discrimination legal framework in the EU, towards all directions beyond the initial ‘gender equality ground’ not only through the introduction of specialised secondary legislation but also through primary legislation such as the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights (‘Charter’), which acquired the same legal values with the rest of the Treaties after the adoption of the Treaty of Lisbon.