Implementation and enforcement
EU countries were given a deadline by which to transpose the Racial Equality Directive. Some EU countries have requested an extension period to complete the transposition of the Directives into national law. For those countries, which have not transposed their legislation within the required timeframe, and do not have an agreed extension time, the European Commission may initiate infringement procedures against them.
In certain EU countries, general legislation of equal treatment legislation 
covering particular grounds of discrimination is already in place. Consequently, these countries must adapt their existing legislation to ensure that it is in conformity with the norms laid down in the EC Racial Equality and Employment Equality Directives. Each EU country is undertaking its own national implementing measures to cover the two directives.
Implementation of Anti-discrimination directives into national law
If the European Commission believes that an EU country has breached Community law it is entitled to initiate an 'infringement procedure' under article 258 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). For each EC directive passed, a deadline will be set for the transposition of its objectives into national law and all EU countries are legally obliged to meet the deadline, unless an agreed alternative or exception is made.
Case law
Below you can find examples of cases decided by the European Court of Justice concerning the interpretation and effects of the Racial Equality Directive and the Employment Equality Directive:
- Case C-411/05, Félix Palacios de la Villa v Cortefiel Servicios SA, of 16 October 2007 (pension & age)
- Case C-144/04, Werner Mangold v Rüdiger Helm, of 22 November 2005 (age)
In the attached document, you can find a few cases decided by the ECJ concerning the interpretation and effects of the directives regarding Equal Treatment between men and women. For information on a particular case, you will find under this document a complete list of ECJ case law regarding these directives.
