HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE EUROPEAN CONSTITUTIONAL ORDER

The page however starts to turn in Stauder 45 and Internationale Handelgesellschaft 46 where the CJEU establishes the protection of fundamental rights as one of the general principles of EU law. The most significant is the Treaty’s commitment to the prohibition of discrimination. The principle of non-discrimination was and continues to be one of the fundamental values of the Treaty. 47 and it is to this date one of the core values of the European Union and its legal system. Even in its beginning, it presents the most apparent evidence of a human rights-based European union because, in the context of the original Treaty, this presents not just a proclamation but also a material contribution to its member states’ human rights-based legal order. Initially, it is primarily focused on the grounds of nationality of member states as an extension of freedom of movement. It is the first step in expanding to other areas of discrimination. The EEC Treaty itself even explicitly mentions these. For example, in Article 119, an explicit prohibition should ensure that women receive equal pay as men for equal work. Although few contemporary scholars imagined it at the time, this provision would later pave the way for the eventual regulation of not only gender based discrimination but also domestic violence. 48 However, this contribution is still significant as it tries to erase differences between various nationalities of the community and the potential benefits it brings. Significantly, the governments of the community have to treat citizens of the community and their citizens as equals and give them the potential benefits they would only want to give their citizens, which presents a fantastic opportunity for people from countries with lower GDP per capita, like Italy, to seek jobs and education in the Netherlands, which contributes to their development and enriches them both materially and spiritually. It also sets up a solid foundation for further anti-discrimination protections of the EU; this was expanded upon in the case of Defrenne v Sabena , which was concerning the reference for a preliminary ruling from the Belgian court concerning the flight attendant, who was seeking equal pay for work as his male colleague. 49 The importance of the prohibition of discrimination was also evident from the first cases of the Court of Justice of the EU concerned with discrimination based on 45 Judgment of the Court of 12 November 1969, Erich Stauder v City of Ulm – Sozialamt, C-29/69, EU:C:1969:57. 46 European Court of Justice. Judgment of the Court of 17 December 1970, Internationale Handelsgesellschaft mbH v Einfuhr- und Vorratsstelle für Getreide und Futtermittel , C-11/70, EU:C:1970:114. 47 DE BÚRCA, Gráinne. The Evolution of EU Human Rights Law. In Oxford University Press [online]. 2021, pp. 476–478 [cit. 2024-04-25]. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780192846556.003.0015. 48 BELAVUSAU, Uladzislau, and HENRARD, Kristin. A Bird’s Eye View on EU Anti-Discrimination Law: The Impact of the 2000 Equality Directives. In German Law Journal [online]. July 2019, vol. 20, no. 5, p. 618 [cit. 2024-04-25]. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1017/glj.2019.53. 49 European Court of Justice. Judgment of the Court of 8 April 1976, Gabrielle Defrenne v Société anonyme belge de navigation aérienne Sabena , C-43/75, EU:C:1976:56.

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