Developing anti-discrimination law in Europe : the 27 EU member states compared

The Developing Anti-discrimination Law in Europe reports provide a comparative analysis of the transposition of the EC Racial Equality and the Employment Equality directives in the national law of all EU Member States in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2010. In many European countries anti-discrimination legislation is undergoing reviews and changes. This operation was set in motion with the adoption of two pieces of European legislation in 2000, namely the Racial Equality Directive and the Employment Equality Directive. How these Directives were transposed into national law of the 27 Member States is described in a series of country reports prepared by the European Network of Legal Experts in the non-discrimination field. This Network is established and managed by human european consultancy and the Migration Policy Group on behalf of the European Commission. The reports were written by independent national experts in each Member State and candidate countries. The information was provided in response to questions set out in a template format which closely followed the provisions of the two Directives. The Network's scientific board, ground co-ordinators (experts on the Directives' five discrimination grounds) and content manager read and commented on various drafts of the reports. The writing process also benefited from comments made by lawyers of the European Commission. Member States and candidate countries were also given an opportunity to comment on the final draft of which they made minimal use. The 30 reports cover the many changes to national law, the putting in place of enforcement mechanisms and the adoption of other measures. As such, they are a valuable source of information on national anti-discrimination law. The comparative analyses compare the information set out in these country reports in a format mirroring that of the country reports themselves and draw some conclusions from the information contained in them. The latest analyses were prepared by Isabelle Chopin and Thien Uyen Do (Migration Policy Group).