EU Equality Law: The First Fundamental Rights Policy of the EU (Oxford Studies in European Law)

234 Pages·2019·1.538 MB·English

by  Elise Muir

i
OXFORD STUDIES IN EUROPEAN LAW
Series Editors
PAUL CRAIG
Professor of English Law at St John’s College, Oxford
GRÁINNE DE BÚRCA
Professor of Law at New York University School of Law
EU Equality Law
EU Equality Law: The First Fundamental Rights Policy of the EU. Elise Muir © Elise Muir 2018. Published
2018 by Oxford University Press.
ii
OXFORD STUDIES IN EUROPEAN LAW
Series Editors:
Paul Craig, Professor of English Law at St John’s College, Oxford and
Gráinne de Búrca, Professor of Law at New York University School of Law
The aim of this series is to publish important and original research on EU law.
The focus is on scholarly monographs, with a particular emphasis on those
which are interdisciplinary in nature. Edited collections of essays will also be
included where they are appropriate. The series is wide in scope and aims to
cover studies of particular areas of substantive and of institutional law, historical
works, theoretical studies, and analyses of current debates, as well as questions
of perennial interest such as the relationship between national and EU law and
the novel forms of governance emerging in and beyond Europe. The fact that
many of the works are interdisciplinary will make the series of interest to all
those concerned with the governance and operation of the EU.
other titles in this series
Subnational Authorities in EU Law
Michèle Finck
Accessing Asylum in Europe
Extraterritorial Border Controls and Refugee Rights under EU Law
Violeta Moreno- Lax
National Parliaments after the Lisbon Treaty and the Euro Crisis
Resilience or Resignation?
Davor Jančić
Environmental Integration in Competition and Free-M ovement Laws
Julian Nowag
EU Agencies
Legal and Political Limits to the Transformation of the EU Administration
Merijn Chamon
Coherence in EU Competition law
Wolf Sauter
Foreign Policy Objectives in European Constitutional Law
Joris Larik
Economic Governance in Europe
Comparative Paradoxes and Constitutional Challenges
Federico Fabbrini
Private Regulation and the Internal Market
Sports, Legal Services, and Standard Setting in EU Economic Law
Mislav Mataija
The EU Deep Trade Agenda
Law and Policy
Billy A. Melo Araujo
iii
EU Equality Law
The First Fundamental Rights Policy of the EU
ELISE MUIR
Associate Professor of EU Law, and head of the Institute for
European Law, KU Leuven
1
iv
1
Great Clarendon Street, Oxford, OX2 6DP,
United Kingdom
Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford.
It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship,
and education by publishing worldwide. Oxford is a registered trade mark of
Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries
© Elise Muir 2018
The moral rights of the author have been asserted
First Edition published in 2018
Impression: 1
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in
a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the
prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted
by law, by licence or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics
rights organization. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the
above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the
address above
You must not circulate this work in any other form
and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer
Crown copyright material is reproduced under Class Licence
Number C01P0000148 with the permission of OPSI
and the Queen’s Printer for Scotland
Published in the United States of America by Oxford University Press
198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016, United States of America
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Data available
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018949655
ISBN 978– 0– 19– 881466– 5
Printed and bound by
CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CR0 4YY
Links to third party websites are provided by Oxford in good faith and
for information only. Oxford disclaims any responsibility for the materials
contained in any third party website referenced in this work.
v
To Amélie, Hania, and Pawel
EU Equality Law: The First Fundamental Rights Policy of the EU. Elise Muir © Elise Muir 2018. Published
2018 by Oxford University Press.
vii
Series Editors’ Preface
Almost two decades after the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights gained binding
force, Elise Muir’s book revisits the question whether and to what extent the EU
has an autonomous human rights policy. Muir does so through an analysis of EU
Equality law, which she argues has become the EU’s first fundamental rights policy.
Contrasting EU equality law and policy with other areas of EU policy such as
data protection, which has strong fundamental rights implications, she argues that
equality law and policy is different in that it is a human rights policy with its own in-
dependent legal basis, its own set of tools and instruments, and is intended to realize
specific fundamental rights rather than being part of another EU policy. She notes
the application of this area of law to both the public and the private sphere, which
she labels the ‘infrastructural’ and ‘transformative’ dimensions.
Muir cautions against the over-constitutionalization of EU equality law, in the
sense of tying its development and shape too closely to the EU treaties rather than
permitting the policy to be more flexibly developed and adapted. She argues that
some of the cases in which the Court has interpreted the constitutional contours of
EU equality law, in the shape of Treaty and Charter provisions and constitutional
principles, have established powerful supranational interventions into controversial
areas of domestic policy touching on important and nationally sensitive values, and
that EU legislative rather than constitutional guidance in such fields may be more
advisable.
Later chapters of the book examine the legislative process in the making of EU
equality law, and the use of other tools to shape and promote it. Chapter V con-
tains an interesting analysis of governance and enforcement within EU equality
law, including a comparison between the emerging fundamental rights fields of EU
data protection and equality law, noting in particular the difference in the way the
independent national enforcement authorities within these two fields are treated.
Indeed, a recurrent theme of the book is the importance of stimulating and sup-
porting legal innovation at the domestic level in the field of EU equality law, rather
than too much prescriptive intervention ‘from above’.
Overall, the book is an intelligent and welcome addition to the existing literature
on EU equality law, updating and providing some fresh perspectives on this im-
portant and constantly growing field, and will appeal to all those who are interested
in EU human rights, equality and non-discrimination law and policy.
Paul Craig and Gráinne de Búrca
EU Equality Law: The First Fundamental Rights Policy of the EU. Elise Muir © Elise Muir 2018. Published
2018 by Oxford University Press.
ix
Acknowledgements
This book is the outcome of a research project financed by the Veni programme of
the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) and hosted by the
Faculty of Law of the University of Maastricht between 2013 and 2017. I am most
grateful to both organizations for making it possible to write this monograph.
I owe special thanks to a number of individuals who have had a direct impact on
the content of the book. Mark Dawson gave me the appetite for a second mono-
graph and patiently read early chapters. Bruno de Witte, Marco Dani, and two
anonymous reviewers provided most valuable comments on aspects of the project
with which I had particular difficulties. Sacha Garben, Gillian More, and Katrien
Meuwissen have very kindly and equally helpfully shared their views on specific
sections. I am also indebted to the members of the Maastricht Centre for European
Law and to the members of the 2017 Edition of the Czech Mountain Seminar who
have spent time and energy reflecting along with me on draft chapters.
This manuscript would never have gone to press without the support of family and
friends. To begin with my academic family: Monica Claes, Mark Dawson, Mariolina
Eliantonio, Sacha Garben, Inge Govaere, Dominik Hanf, Claire Kilpatrick, Anne
Pieter van der Mei, Síofra O’Leary, Cristophe Radé, Séverine Saintier, Hildegard
Schneider, Takis Tridimas, Christian Valèze, Ellen Vos, Lisa Waddington, and
Bruno de Witte have provided healthy, caring, and stimulating intellectual homes
for the early stages of my academic life. I feel privileged to have received their sup-
port and words of advice.
This is as well as, of course, the friends of yesterday and tomorrow, Magali,
Estelle, Tristan, and Michaël, who are always available for a chat. My parents, with
their indefectible trust. My brothers, so warmly different and thereby so comple-
mentary to me. My grandparents, Geneviève, Jean- Luc, Hélène, Pierre and Marie-
Pierre, and Annie, acting affectionate intellectual compasses.
This book is dedicated to Amélie, Hania, and Pawel. Amélie and Hania were born
during and grew up alongside this project; their presence strengthened my deter-
mination to write this book. As for Pawel, he is behind each and every page.
EU Equality Law: The First Fundamental Rights Policy of the EU. Elise Muir © Elise Muir 2018. Published
2018 by Oxford University Press.
xvii
Table of Cases
Abrahamsson See Katarina Abrahamsson and Leif Anderson v Elisabet Fogelqvist
Accession by the Community to the European Convention for the Protection of Human
Rights and Fundamental Freedoms [1996] ECLI:EU:C:1996:140 .....................63
Accession of the European Union to the European Convention for the Protection of Human
Rights and Fundamental Freedoms [2014] ECLI:EU:C:2014:2454 ....................63
Achbita See Samira Achbita and Centrum voor Gelijkheid van Kansen
en voor Racismebestrijding v G4S Secure Solutions NV
Åklagaren v Hans Åkerberg Fransson [2013] ECLI:EU:C:2013:105 ...................4, 51, 66
Albert Ruckdeschel & Co and Hansa Lagerhaus Ströh & Co v Hauptzollamt Hamburg- St
Annen; Diamalt AG v Hauptzollamt Itzehoe [1977] ECLI:EU:C:1977:160 ............4, 62
Alimanovic See Jobcenter Berlin Neukölln v Nazifa Alimanovic and others
Alpine Investments BV v Minister van Financiën [1995] ECLI:EU:C:1995:126 ...............70
AMS See Association de médiation sociale v Union locale des syndicats CGT and others
Ana de Diego Porras v Ministerio de Defensa [2016] ECLI:EU:C:2016:683 .........127, 128, 131
Angonese See Roman Angonese v Cassa di Risparmio di Bolzano SpA
António Fernando Maio Marques da Rosa v Varzim Sol— Turismo, Jogo e Animação, SA
[2017] ECLI:EU:C:2017:844 ...............................................114
Antonio Muñoz y Cia SA and Superior Fruiticola SA v Frumar Ltd and Redbridge Produce
Marketing Ltd [2002] ECLI:EU:C:2002:497 ....................................139
Asma Bougnaoui and Association de Défense des Droits de l’Homme (ADDH) v Micropole
SA [2017] ECLI:EU:C:2017:204 ..............................................51
Asociaţia Accept v Consiliul Naţional pentru Combatere a Discriminării [2013]
ECLI:EU:C:2013:275 .....................................................154
Association Belge des Consommateurs Test- Achats ASBL and others v Conseil des ministres
[2011] ECLI:EU:C:2011:100 ....................... 2, 32, 35, 87, 96– 8, 105, 106, 140
Association de médiation sociale v Union locale des syndicats CGT and others [2014]
ECLI:EU:C:2014:2 ..................................11, 83, 113– 16, 118, 130, 141
Athanasios Vatsouras and Josif Koupatantze v Arbeitsgemeinschaft (ARGE) Nürnberg 900
[2009] ECLI:EU:C:2009:344 ...............................................134
Audiolux SA e.a v Groupe Bruxelles Lambert SA (GBL) and others and Bertelsmann AG and
others (Case C- 101/ 08) [2009] ECLI:EU:C:2009:626 .............................112
Auditeur du travail v Yangwei SPRL [2011] ECLI:EU:C:2011:826 ....................127, 128
Autorità per le Garanzienelle Comunicazioni v Istituto Nazionale di Statistica—I STAT and
others [2016] ECLI:EU:C:2016:608 ..........................................195
Barber See Douglas Harvey Barber v Guardian Royal Exchange Assurance Group
Baumbast and R v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2002] ECLI:EU:C:2002:493 ....69
BECTU (Case C- 173/ 99) [2001] ECR I- 488 ........................................141
Belinda Jane Coote v Granada Hospitality Ltd [1998] ECLI:EU:C:1998:424 ............149, 152
Belov See Valeri Hariev Belov v CHEZ Elektro Balgaria AD and others
Betriebsrat der Ruhrlandklinik GmbH v Ruhrlandklinik GmbH [2016]
ECLI:EU:C:2016:883 .................................................126, 127
Bilka- Kaufhaus GmbH v Karin Weber von Hartz [1986] ECLI:EU:C:1986:204 ...............89
BNO Walrave and LJN Koch v Association Union cycliste international, Koninklijke
Nederlandsche Wielren Unie and Federación Espanola Ciclismo [1974]
ECLI:EU:C:1974:140 ....................................................8, 80
EU Equality Law: The First Fundamental Rights Policy of the EU. Elise Muir © Elise Muir 2018. Published
2018 by Oxford University Press.
xviii
xviii Table of Cases
Bougnaoui See Asma Bougnaoui and Association de Défense des Droits de l’Homme (ADDH)
v Micropole SA
Brey See Pensionsversicherungsanstalt v Peter Brey
Briheche See Serge Briheche v Ministre de l’Intérieur, Ministre de l’Education nationale
and Ministre de la Justice
Bruno See Istituto nazionale della previdenza sociale (INPS) v Tiziana Bruno and Massimo
Pettini and Daniela Lotti and Clara Matteucci
Camera di Commercio, Industria, Artigianato e Agricoltura di Lecce v Salvatore Manni
ECLI:EU:C:2017:19 ......................................................138
Carlos Álvarez Santirso v Consejería de Educación, Cultura y Deporte del Principado de
Asturias [2016] ECLI:EU:C:2016:72 ......................................127, 128
Carmela Carratù v Poste Italiane SpA [2013] ECLI:EU:C:2013:830 ...............123, 128, 131
Centrum voor Gelijkheid van Kansen en voor Racismebestrijding v Firma Feryn NV [2008]
ECLI:EU:C:2008:397 .............................................172, 175, 190
Charlotte Rosselle v Institut national d’assurance maladie- invalidité (INAMI) and Union
nationale des mutualités libres (UNM) [2015] ECLI:EU:C:2015:339 ..............172, 175
CHEZ Razpredelenie Bulgaria AD v Komisia za zashtita ot diskriminatsia [2015]
ECLI:EU:C:2015:480 ....................................27, 74, 75, 128, 172, 173
Coleman (S) v Attridge Law and Steve Law [2008] ECLI:EU:C:2008:415 ..........128, 129, 157
Coloroll Pension Trustees Ltd v James Richard Russell, Daniel Mangham, Gerald Robert
Parker, Robert Sharp, Joan Fuller, Judith Ann Broughton and Coloroll Group plc [1994]
ECLI:EU:C:1994:348 .....................................................129
Comisión del Mercado de las Telecomunicaciones v Administración del Estado [2008]
ECLI:EU:C:2008:143 .....................................................195
Commission of the European Communities v French Republic [1974] ECLI:EU:C:1974:35 .....70
Commission v Federal Republic of Germany [2010] ECLI:EU:C:2010:125 ...........192– 4, 200
Commission v Hungary ECLI:EU:C:2014:237 ..................................194, 199
Commission v Republic of Austria [2012] ECLI:EU:C:2012:406 .......................192– 4
Concetta Sagulo, Gennaro Brenca and Addelmadjid Bakhouche [1977] ECLI:EU:C:1977:131 .....155
Dai Cugini NV v Rijksdienst voor Sociale Zekerheid [2011] ECLI:EU:C:2011:223 .......127, 128, 132
Danfoss A/ S and Sauer- DanfossApS v Skatteministeriet [1989] ECLI:EU:C:1989:383 .........149
Dano See Elisabeta Dano and Florin Dano v Jobcenter Leipzig
Dansk Industri (DI), acting on behalf of Ajos A/S v Estate of Karsten Eigil Rasmussen [2016]
ECLI:EU:C:2016:278 ................................... 2, 35, 83, 85, 86, 116, 202
David L Parris v Trinity College Dublin and others [2016] ECLI:EU:C:2016:897 ..............98
David Montoya Medina v Fondo de Garantía Salarial et Universidad de Alicante [2011]
ECLI:EU:C:2011:167 .....................................................126
Defrenne II See Gabrielle Defrenne v Société anonyme belge de navigation aérienne Sabena
Del Cerro Alonso See Yolanda Del Cerro Alonso v Osakidetza- Servicio Vasco de Salud
Delège and Lehtonen (Cases C- 51/ 96 &176/ 96) .....................................159
Deutsche Post AG v Elisabeth Sievers and Brunhilde Schrage [2000] ECLI:EU:C:2000:76 ....10, 77
Deutsche Telekom AG v Lilli Schröder[2000] ECLI:EU:C:2000:72 ...................8, 10, 77
Dieter Kraus v Land Baden- Württemberg [1993] ECLI:EU:C:1993:125 ................70, 158
Digital Rights Ireland Ltd v Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources
and others and Kärtner Landesregierung and others [2014] ECLI:EU:C:2014:238 .........75
Digital Rights Ireland Ltd v Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources and
others and Kärntner Landesregierung and others [2014] ECLI:EU:C:2014:238 ..........139
Dominguez See Maribel Dominguez v Centre informatique du
Centre Ouest Atlantique and Préfet de la région Centre
Dorsch Consult Ingenieurgesellschaft mbH v Bundesbaugesellschaft Berlin mbH [1997]
ECLI:EU:C:1997:413 .....................................................188
xxi
Table of Cases xix
Douglas Harvey Barber v Guardian Royal Exchange Assurance Group [1990]
ECLI:EU:C:1990:209 ............................................89– 91, 98, 105
Eckhard Kalanke v Freie Hansestadt Bremen [1995] ECLI:EU:C:1995:322 ...............91, 94
Elisabeta Dano and Florin Dano v Jobcenter Leipzig [2014]
ECLI:EU:C:2014:2358 ............................................100, 101, 103
Elliniki Radiophonia Tiléorassi AE and Panellinia Omospondia Syllogon Prossopikou
v Dimotiki Etairia Pliroforissis and Sotirios Kouvelas and Nicolaos Avdellas and
others[1991] ECLI:EU:C:1991:254 .........................................36, 61
Enderby (Dr Pamela Mary) v Frenchay Health Authority and Secretary of State for Health
[1993] ECLI:EU:C:1993:859 ......................................28, 70, 82, 149
Erich Stauder v City of Ulm— Sozialamt [1969] ECLI:EU:C:1969:57 ......................36
European Commission v Guido Strack [2013] ECLI:EU:C:2013:570. . . 85, 114, 117, 119, 120, 139
Fenoll See Gérard Fenoll v Centre d’aide par le travail ‘La Jouvene’ and Association
de parents et d’amis de personnes handicapées mentales (APEI) d’Avignon
Feryn See Centrum voor Gelijkheid van Kansen en voor Racismebestrijding v Firma Feryn NV
Flaminio Costa v ENEL [1964] ECLI:EU:C:1964:66 ...................................36
FMC plc, FMC (Meat) Ltd, DT Duggins Ltd, Marshall (Lamberhurst) Ltd, Montelupo Ltd
and North Devon Meat Ltd v Intervention Board of Agricultural Produce and Ministry
of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food [1996] ECLI:EU:C:1996:40 ......................153
Francisco Javier Rosado Santana v Consejería de Justicia y Administración Pública de la Junta
de Andalucía [2011] ECLI:EU:C:2011:557 ...................................126– 8
Fransson See Åklagaren v Hans Åkerberg Fransson
Frédéric Hay v Crédit Agricole Mutuel de Charente- Maritime et des DeuxSèvres [2013]
ECLI:EU:C:2013:823 ..................................................62, 173
Fries See Werner Fries v Lufthansa City Line GmbH
Gabrielle Defrenne v Société anonyme belge de navigation aérienne Sabena [1976]
ECLI:EU:C:1976:56 (Defrenne II) ...........5, 7, 8, 70, 79, 80, 82– 4, 90, 106– 8, 137, 148
Gabrielle Defrenne v Société anonyme belge de navigation aérienne Sabena (Defrenne III)
(Case 149/ 77) [1978] ECLI:EU:C:1978:130; [1978] ECR 1365 ................10, 62, 95
García- Nieto See Vestische Arbeit Jobcenter Kreis Recklinghausen v Jovanna García- Nieto
and others
Gaskin v United Kingdom (App no 10454/8 3) .......................................194
Geoffrey Léger contre Ministre des Affaires sociales, de la Santé et des Droits des femmes et
Etablissement français du sang [2015] ECLI:EU:C:2015:288 ......................67, 85
Georg Badeck and others, interveners: Hessische Ministerpräsident and Landesanwalt beim
Staatsgerichtshof des Landes Hesse [2000] ECLI:EU:C:2000:163 ......................93
Gérard Fenoll v Centre d’aide par le travail ‘La Jouvene’ and Association de parents
et d’amis de personnes handicapées mentales (APEI) d’Avignon [2015]
ECLI:EU:C:2015:200 .................................112, 114, 115, 117, 118, 130
Gerhard Köbler v Republik Österreich [2003] ECLI:EU:C:2003:513 ....................155– 6
Giovanni Maria Sotgiu v Deutsche Bundespost [1974] ECLI:EU:C:1974:13 ..............70, 82
Glatzel See Wolfgang Glatzel v Freistaat Bayern
Graf (Case C- 190/ 98) [2000] ECR I– 493 ...........................................159
Grant See Lisa Jacqueline Grant v South- West Trains Ltd
Grupo Norte Facility, SA v Angel Manuel Moreira Gómez [2017] OJ C30/ 21– 22
(pending) ...........................................................111, 120
H Lommers v Minister van Landbouw, Natuurbeheer en Visserij [2002] ECLI:EU:C:2002:183 ......91
Handels- og Kontorfunktionærernes Danfoss Forbund I Danmark v Dansk
Arbejdsgiverforening, acting on behalf of Danfoss [1989] ECLI:EU:C:1989:383 ..........28