On 19 February 2014, Equinet organised a High-Level Seminar in Brussels bringing together senior legal experts of national equality bodies and other relevant stakeholders for an open and constructive dialogue on Equality Law.
Seminar summary
For an overview of discussions and main points, please find the summary of the event below.
2014 EQUINET LEGAL SEMINAR SUMMARY
Speakers’ Presentations
SESSION 1 – Developing jurisprudence on discrimination in Europe
– Evolving case law of the CJEU and its interplay with the ECtHR and the European Committee on Social Rights (Colm O’Cinneide, University College London, Vice-President of the European Committee of Social Rights)
– The European Commission’s implementation Report on Directives 2000/43 and 2000/78 (Pia Lindholm and Alvaro Oliveira, European Commission DG Justice)
SESSION 2 – European case law
– School segregation of Roma children (Dezideriu Gergely, European Roma Rights Centre)
– The Asociaţia Accept (C-81/12) case and the lessons learnt from it (Iustina Ionescu, Euroregional Center for Public Initiatives, Romania)
SESSION 3 – Ensuring freedom of movement and combating nationality-based discrimination
– The right to freedom of movement and the perspective of the European Parliament on the proposed EU Directive (Edit Bauer, Member of the European Parliament – Group of the European People’s Party)
– The proposed EU Directive – the current state of play and expectations (Gillian More, European Commission DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion)
– Combating nationality – based discrimination in the Member States and the implications of the proposed Directive (Paul Minderhoud, Coordinator, European Network on Free Movement of Workers – Radboud University Nijmegen, the Netherlands)
– The experiences of national equality bodies in combating nationality- based discrimination:
- Calliope Spanou – Greek Ombudsman
- Patrick Charlier – Belgian Centre for Equal Opportunities and Opposition to Racism
Agenda and Objectives
The agenda of the training can be accessed below:
AGENDA – Equinet Legal Seminar 2014
This legal seminar aimed at peer learning and the further development of European equality law by:
– Discussing the development of jurisprudence and case law at European and national level
– Examining specific forms of discrimination and the challenges they pose, with particular attention to segregation
– Analysing the role of equality bodies in combating discrimination based on nationality
– Providing a platform for a wide range of legal experts in equality law to discuss and compare their experiences.
Reading material prior to the seminar
– The Evolution and Impact of the Case-Law of the Court of Justice of the European Union on Directives 2000/43/EC and 2000/78/EC
– Joint report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on the application of the 2000/43/EC and the 2000/78/EC Directives
– Segregation cases (European Court of Human Rights)
Lavida and Others v. Greece – 7973/10
Horváth and Kiss v. Hungary – 11146/11
Sampani and Others v. Greece – 59608/09
Oršuš and Others v. Croatia – 15766/03
Sampanis and Others v. Greece – 32526/05
D.H. and Others v. the Czech Republic – 57325/00
– Asociaţia Accept case (Court of Justice of the EU; C-81/12)
– Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on measures facilitating the exercise of rights conferred on workers in the context of freedom of movement for workers – 2013/0124 (COD)
– European network on free movement of workers THEMATIC REPORT Application of Regulation 1612/68
– Article 45-46 TFEU (Free movement of workers)