Laws exist throughout the European Union to protect everyone against discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief, disability, age and sexual orientation in the workplace and on the grounds of sex, racial or ethnic origin in all areas of life.
Despite this legal safeguard, discrimination still exists in Europe. The most recent Eurobarometer survey, Discrimination in the EU in 2009, reveals that:

• Around 1 in 6 Europeans have been discriminated against in the last 12 months;

• Over 1 in 4 have witnessed someone else being discriminated against in the last year;

Experiences of discrimination can take overt forms such as job adverts which explicitly exclude older people or people with disabilities, or attacks motivated by racism or homophobia. More often though they take more subtle forms, such as when unnecessary requirements are included in a job advert or older workers are overlooked for training. 

Some people are discriminated against because of a combination of several grounds, known as multiple discrimination. For example, someone who is older and has a disability, is black and female, or gay and religious may be more likely to face discrimination on more than one ground.

This section will provide you with information on what is discrimination, your rights and responsibilities under EU law, and who can help if you or someone around you is being discriminated against.

Measures to explicitly combat discrimination based on a person’s gender are covered by dedicated EU initiatives.