Discrimination on Grounds of Ethnic Origin

EU law fights against discrimination related to racial and ethnic origin, in particular in the workplace and with regard to access to goods and services. The Court has had the opportunity to define the scope of this type of discrimination in its case-law.

In 2008, the Court found there to be direct discrimination where an employer publicly states that it will not recruit employees of a certain ethnic origin.  The case originates in the remarks of a director publicly confirming that his company did not wish to recruit foreigners because its customers were reluctant to give them access to their private residences for the installation of garage doors (judgment of 10 July 2008, Feryn, C-54/07).

In 2015, the Court held that discrimination on grounds of ethnic origin may be established where, in a district densely populated by Roma, electricity meters are installed at an inaccessible height (between six and seven metres), whereas the same meters are placed at an accessible height in other districts. Such a practice not only makes it extremely difficult, if not impossible, for the parties concerned to check their electricity meters for the purpose of monitoring their consumption, but is also offensive and stigmatising. The Court noted, on that occasion, that the principle of equal treatment applies not only to persons who have a certain ethnic origin but also to persons who, although not themselves a member of the ethnic group concerned, suffer, together with the former, less favourable treatment (judgment of 16 July 2015, CHEZ Razpredelenie Bulgaria, C-83/14).