Legal Protection against Discrimination based on Racial and Ethnic Origin Under European Union Law — Necessary but not Sufficient?

Abstract

Inter-related developments at three distinct levels of European Union law relevan to protection against race discrimination are the focus of this article. First, the article considers Article 13 E.C. enacted by the Treaty of Amsterdam, and the enabling model it embodies. This model is critiqued and contrasted with other potential forms of equality provision, by drawing on international law models. Next, the article analyses the Council Directive on Equal Treatment between persons irrespective of racial or ethnic origin (EC 43/20(0) from a number of substantive and formal legal perspectives. Finally, the article discusses the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the E.U. and the import of its equality provision, Article 21. A number of themes recur in this piece: among them, the limitations of the current equality model with respect third country nationals and nationality discrimination which amounts to de facto race discrimination; the inadequacy of the current equality model to provide a consistent level of protection for all of the heads of discrimination enumerated in Article 13; and the absence of a general principle of equality which clearly binds Member States, E.U. citizens and the E.U. itself.