Legal responses to the problem of age discrimination in the European Union : does the law fit its purpose?

Abstract

Age discrimination (ageism) is a relatively new concept and age-equality legislation is even newer. The first age anti-discrimination law — the Age Discrimination in Employment Act - was adopted in the USA in 1967. The European Community became interested in this problem approximately three decades ago. The first age-discrimination provision was inserted into the EC Treaty at the Amsterdam European Council in 1997. Ever since, EU age-equality legislation has grown extensively. There is Directive 78/2000 establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation as well as Articles 20 and 21 o f the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU that provide for the principle o f equality before the law and forbids age discrimination. The present research addresses all questions related to the interpretation of existing legal sources. It also refers to issues o f policy-making, framing them within a historical perspective. Age is a criterion that has traditionally been used for distinguishing individuals or dividing whole societies. Age has been used as a societal factor: the particular age o f a person has been perceived as a ready indication o f this person’s status and the role he/she should play in the community. Age has also been used as a ready criterion for the application o f policies at the macro- and micro-economic level. Human-resource management extracts age cohorts from the population and subjects them to specific measures: for example, in matters o f social security, employment and health care. This is very often connected with the division of resources within society. Lastly, age is a criterion adopted in legislation for the concession o f certain legal privileges, rights and duties to individuals, such as the legal capacity to act in court proceedings or an entitlement to election prerogatives. All these functions of age are connected with certain assumptions made by society, policy and law-makers as to the qualities o f persons o f a particular age.