Részletek

Készült: 2015. december 27.

The European Union (EU) is an area without internal frontiers in which goods, services and people can move freely. The absence of internal frontiers is an important prerequisite for the establishment of the internal market. At the same time, it sets major challenges for EU policy maker as it requires them to formulate smart legislation that pursues two goals concurrently. That is to say, policy makers are asked to formulate legislation that restrict free movement in order to prevent irregular migration and transfers from occurring, but that also obstruct the development of the internal market as little as possible. Particularly in the area of the equal treatment of EU citizens this balancing exercise has proved to be everything but straightforward. This becomes clear from case law of the European Court of Justice determining the content of and limitations to the right to equal treatment of EU citizens. In this paper this is illustrated by studying the issue of reverse discrimination and by focusing particularly on the difficulties arising from the legality of reverse discrimination in family reunification cases. In this article it is explained what reverse discrimination entails and why it is still accepted in the EU. Consquently, it is discussed that whilst many commentators have advocated abolishing the legality of reverse discrimination in order to allow EU citizens to fully enjoy their right to equal treatment, this may not be the panacea.

Keywords: equal treatment, reverse discrimination, EU law, European citizenship, family reunification

A tanulmány teljes szövege (angol nyelven)

Részletek

Készült: 2015. december 27.

Minority protection did not receive attention in the original EC treaty of 1956. The concept of nondiscrimination of laborers and later of EU citizens became the cornerstone for minority protection. Gradually the EU became familiar with the concept of human rights because of judgments of the European Court of Justice (ECJ). This concept has officially been introduced in the 2009 Lisbon Treaty, which includes the rights of persons belonging to minorities and has been elaborated in Article 21 of the EU Charter of Human Rights. If the Charter is not applicable, minorities have to address national legal instances where there is no say for the EU regarding minorities. In this paper, I will demonstrate that the complex European legal system is not easy to understand in terms of protection of minorities. Recently, the ECJ has decided in the CHEZ versus Nikolova case that it can empower lower national courts against measures of systematic discrimination against minorities based on EU equality directives and Article 21 of the Charter. This verdict together with the EU Commission‘s intention to give the Charter a broad practical legal context shown in the working areas of the Fundamental Rights Agency, should ensure national minorities that European institutions pay really attention to their problems.
Keywords: minority policy, minority protection, EU Charter of Human Rights, EU equality law, Fundamental Rights Agency

A tanulmány teljes szövege (angol nyelven)