Equality in the European Union

Abstract

Gender equality is a vital aspect of the European integration process. Although specific legislation concerning gender issues was included in the establishing Treaties, in the Charter of fundamental rights and in a dozen other directives, non-discriminatory principle has also been strengthened by the jurisdiction of the Court of Justice of the European Union which formed a judgment in more than 200 cases. Nowadays, the EU equality legislation has moved far beyond basic gender issues, and this is also discussed in the article. It focuses not only on the fundamentals of EU legislation concerning gender equality but also on the level of its implementation and its most important limitations. Such considerations are broadened by a discussion on the EU actions which may be also treated as the implementation of non-discriminatory legislation.