The EU has some of the most advanced anti-discrimination laws in the world.

European legislation in this field is based on Article 19 of the Treaty of Lisbon (formerly Article 13 of the Treaty of Amsterdam) which gives the EU powers to combat discrimination on the grounds of racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age,sex or sexual orientation.

Current legislation comprises two directives:

The Employment Equality Directive (2000/78) protects everyone in the EU from discrimination based on age, disability, sexual orientation and religion or belief in the workplace.

The Racial Equality Directive (2000/43) prohibits discrimination on the grounds of racial or ethnic origin in the workplace as well as in other areas of life such as education, social security, healthcare and access to goods and services.
The Directives were agreed by all EU Member States in 2000.  Each Member State was then obliged to incorporate these new laws into their national system.

More information on the Directives is available on the website of the Directorate-General for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship.
Dedicated legislation and measures regarding gender equality also exist.

Further details of how EU anti-discrimination legislation affects you or those around you can be found in the Diversity and you section.