HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE EUROPEAN CONSTITUTIONAL ORDER

Its significant weakness is its narrowness, resting in its limited material scope to the workplace rather than other areas of life, whereas discrimination on grounds of race and sex is more developed thanks to the Racial Equality Directive . 28 Secondly, the current structure of EU anti-discrimination law as a whole, in particular based on the Employment Equality Directive , does not provide a remedy for cases of multiple or intersectional discrimination. 29 As a reaction to this limitation, the Proposed Equal Treatment Directive was issued by the European Commission in 2008. 30 This directive aimed to extend the protection beyond the workplace and broaden its application to other horizontal levels, in other words, among other fields of life. However, the directive has not been adopted yet due to the rigorous legislative process, and it is currently stalled in the Council of the European Union. 31 Key concerns include the potential infringement on national competences and the broader implications for national sovereignty. 32 In particular, countries have been hesitant to adopt measures that might lead to extensive legal obligations beyond employment, fearing that such a directive would impose undue constraints on domestic legal systems. 33 Despite the broad support for combating discrimination, the requirement for unanimity in the Council has slowed down the adoption of the directive. Despite these limitations, the Employment Equality Directive provides significant contributions to the protection of LGBTQ+ individuals. Notably, it defines both direct and indirect discrimination, which are absent from the EU Treaties but crucial for judicial interpretation. These definitions have played an important role in shaping the jurisprudence of the CJEU and have been adopted by the European Court of Human Rights (hereinafter referred to as “ECtHR”) in its rulings. Moreover, while the directive limits its scope to employment, several Member States, such as Denmark, Sweden, and Greece, have expanded the list of protected grounds, thus 28 BELAVUSAU, Uladzislau. Legislative and Judicial Politics of LGBT Rights in the European Union. In: SSRN Electronic Journal [online]. 2020, p. 6 [cit. 2024-08-14]. Available at: https://ssrn.com/ abstract=3704924. 29 Ibid. 30 European Commission. Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on implementing the principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of religion or belief, disability, age, or sexual orientation . Official Journal of the European Union [online]. 2008, COM(2008), 426 final [cit. 2024-02-14]. Available at: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ TXT/?uri=celex%3A52008PC0426. 31 European Commission [online]. [cit. 2024-02-18]. Available at: https://commission.europa.eu/index_en. 32 CLARK, Emma. EU Bibliographies: Proposed Equal Treatment Directive In: House of Commons Library , [online]. 2010 [cit. 2024-02-14]. Available at: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research briefings/sn05308/. 33 For more info., see: PROLI, Paolo. Implementing the principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of religion or belief, disability, age, or sexual orientation: impact assessment of the proposal for a Council Directive on implementing the principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of religion or belief, disability, age, or sexual orientation, as well as amendments 37 and 41 of the European Parliament. [online] 2014 [cit. 2024-02-14]. Available at: https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2861/316.

130