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European Equality Law Network

European network of legal experts in gender equality and non-discrimination

2023 Seminar – Keynote speech by Nani Jansen Reventlow

The 2023 annual legal seminar of the European network of legal experts in gender equality and non-discrimination (EELN) was organised as a hybrid seminar with participants in Brussels and online. It took place on Friday 1 December 2023. For more information, the programme can be found here.

The seminar brought together more than 230 representatives of the European Commission, EU Member State governments, equality bodies, EU umbrella organisations, academics from across Europe and members of the network itself.

More information on the opening and the keynote speech of this legal seminar can be found here:


The workshops at this year’s seminar covered the following topics, mostly inspired by reports and other publications by the network in 2023:


More information on the closing of this legal seminar can be found here:

Closing session with Commissioner Helena Dalli on behalf of the European Commission and Linda Senden on behalf of the Network

 

Commissioner for Equality Helena Dalli during her contribution to the closing session. Left: Linda Senden (Specialist coordinator gender equality/Utrecht University). Photo: European Commission. 

2022 Seminar – Keynote speech by Ruth Rubio Marín: Is European equality constitutionalism obsolete?

The 2022 annual legal seminar of the European network of legal experts in gender equality and non-discrimination (EELN) was organised as a hybrid seminar with participants in Brussels and online. It took place on Friday 2, December 2022. For more information, the programme can be found here: Agenda 2 December 2022.

It brought together almost 200 representatives of the European Commission, EU Member State governments, equality bodies, EU umbrella organisations, academics from across Europe and members of the network itself. 

More information on the welcome part and the keynote speech of this legal seminar can be found here:

Welcome by Linda Senden on behalf of the network and by Commissioner Helena Dalli on behalf of the European Commission; keynote speech from Ruth Rubio Marín: 'Is European equality constitutionalism obsolete?' with a response by David Oppenheimer

The workshops at this year’s seminar covered the following topics, mostly inspired by reports and other publications by the network in 2022:

Workshop – Update on European case law by Janneke Gerards and Colm O’Cinneide

Workshop – Women in the public sphere by Biljana Kotevska and Vera Pavlou

Workshop – The transposition of Directive 2019/1158 on Work-Life Balance in Member States by Miguel de la Corte-Rodríguez

Workshop – Indirect discrimination under Directives 2000/43 and 2000/78 by Christa Tobler

Workshop – Structural discrimination on the ground of racial or ethnic origin by Niall Crowley

More information on the closing part of this legal seminar can be found here:

Closing session Isabelle Chopin on behalf of the Network and Irena Moozova on behalf of the European Commission

2021 Seminar – Keynote speech by Adam Bodnar, Beyond the mere enforcement of the Racial Equality and Employment Equality Directives, Gender-based violence against women, Pay transparency measures to tackle the Gender Pay Gap and more

The 2021 annual legal seminar of the European network of legal experts in gender equality and non-discrimination (EELN) was organised as an online seminar, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It took place on Friday 26 November 2021 and for more information on the programme can be found here: Agenda 26 November 2021.

It brought together almost 200 representatives of the European Commission, EU Member State governments, equality bodies, EU umbrella organisations, academics from across Europe and members of the network itself. 

More information on the welcome and introduction part of this online legal seminar can be found here:

Welcome on behalf of the European Commission by Helena Dalli

Keynote speech from Adam Bodnar, Law professor at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Warsaw, Poland: EU anti-discrimination laws in action: view from Poland

The workshops at this year’s seminar covered the following topics, mostly inspired by reports and other publications by the network in 2021:

Workshop – Update on European case law by Janneke Gerards and Colm O’Cinneide

Workshop – Beyond the mere enforcement of the Racial Equality and Employment Equality Directives by Romaniţa Iordache and Iustina Ionescu

Workshop – Gender-based violence against women by Sara De Vido and Lorena Sosa

Workshop – Pay transparency measures to tackle the Gender Pay Gap: Best practices and challenges in Belgium, Denmark and Iceland by Sara Benedí Lahuerta

Workshop – Directive 2004/113/EC: a forgotten Directive? by Eugenia Caracciolo di Torella

More information on the closing part of this online legal seminar can be found here:

Closing session Linda Senden on behalf of the Gender Equality Network and Irena Moozova on behalf of the European Commission

2020 Seminar – Keynote speech by Nils Muižnieks (Amnesty International), Age discrimination outside employment, Indirect sex discrimination in employment, Algorithmic discrimination, the gendered impact of COVID-19 in the EU and more

The annual legal seminar of the European network of legal experts in gender equality and non-discrimination (EELN) was an online seminar this year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It took place on Thursday 3 December 2020. Notwithstanding the greatly missed personal contact, fringe talks and get-togethers, the seminar was a very interesting and much appreciated event. As usual, it brought together almost 200 representatives of the European Commission, EU Member State governments, equality bodies, EU umbrella organisations, academics from across Europe and members of the network itself.

More information on the welcome and introduction part of this online legal seminar can be found here:

Welcome on behalf of the European Commission by Karen Vandekerckhove

Video message from the Commissioner for Equality Helena Dalli

Keynote speech from Nils Muižnieks director for the Europe regional office Amnesty International

The workshops at this year’s seminar covered the following topics, mostly inspired by reports and other publications by the network in 2020:

Update on European case law by Colm O’Cinneide

Sexual orientation discrimination outside the labour market by Peter Dunne

Indirect sex discrimination in employment by Jule Mulder

Algorithmic discrimination by Janneke Gerards and Rapaële Xenidis

The gendered impact of COVID-19 by Alexandra Timmer and Birte Böök

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2019 Seminar – Update on CJEU case law, Positive action in gender equality and non-discrimination, Racial discrimination in education and EU equality law, Strategic litigation in gender equality and non-discrimination, Religious ethos in employment

The annual legal seminar of the European network of legal experts in gender equality and non-discrimination (EELN) on 29 November 2019 brought together almost 200 representatives of the European Commission, EU Member State governments, Equality Bodies, EU umbrella organisations, academics from across Europe and members of the network itself.

The participants were welcomed on behalf of the European Commission by Tiina Astola, Director-General, European Commission, DG Justice and Consumers. In her speech she highlighted several recent Commission initiatives and successes, among others the Work-life Balance Directive which entered into force in August 2019. She also reiterated the European Commission’s strong commitment to seeing the EU become party to the Istanbul Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence. Noting that more than ten years have passed since the draft EU horizontal non-discrimination Directive, she underlined the fact that the Commission is more committed than ever to seeing this Directive adopted. Last but not least, she stressed the importance of the decision of the European Commission to appoint, for the first time ever, a Commissioner for Equality, Elena Dalli. She will be responsible, among other things, for the development of a new Gender Equality Strategy and binding measures for pay transparency.

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2018 Seminar – Trans and intersex equality rights, Equality Bodies making a difference, The United Nations’ and the EU’s approach to disability equality, Family leave: enforcement issues and Prohibition of harassment as tool to tackle hate speech

On 30 November 2018 the annual legal seminar of the European network of legal experts in gender equality and non-discrimination (EELN) took place. The seminar brought together 180 representatives of the European Commission, EU Member States governments, Equality Bodies, EU umbrella organisations, academics from across Europe, as well as members of the network itself.

The participants were welcomed on behalf of the European Commission by Irena Moozova, director for Equality and Union Citizenship of DG Justice and Consumers. She highlighted in her welcome several recent Commission initiatives, among others the 2018 recommendation on standards for Equality Bodies, the 2018 proposal for the European Accessibility Act, an important tool to improve equal treatment of persons with disabilities, and several policy initiatives in the field of gender equality, including among others the evaluation of the equal pay provisions in EU legislation.

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2017 Seminar – Women on Boards, Religious clothing and symbols in employment, Enforcement of anti-discrimination law regarding Roma, Equality Data Collection, 2017 European Commission proposal work-life balance

On 1 December 2017 the annual legal seminar of the European network of legal experts in gender equality and non-discrimination (EELN) took place. The seminar brought together 160 representatives of the European Commission, EU Member States governments, Equality Bodies, EU umbrella organisations, academics from across Europe, as well as members of the network itself.

The seminar started with a presentation of Irena Moozova, director for Equality and Union Citizenship of DG Justice and Consumers of the European Commission, who highlighted several recent Commission initiatives, among others the 2017 proposal from the Commission on work-life balance, the continued attention for equal pay for equal work and the protection of Roma against discrimination, issues for with the network provides inputs on a regular basis.

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2016 Seminar – The meaning of racial and ethnic origin, Employment Equality Directive and people with psychosocial disabilities, Migration and discrimination, Pay transparency, Equal pay

On 25 November 2016 the annual legal seminar of the European network of legal experts in gender equality and non-discrimination (EELN) was organised. The seminar brought together 160 representatives of the European Commission, EU Member States governments, Equality Bodies, EU umbrella organisations, academics from across Europe, as well as members of the network itself.

The seminar kicked-off with a very inspirational keynote speech by Justice Baer of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany. She gave her view on what she believes is needed from us all to keep the promotion and protection of human rights in Europe on the agenda of international institutions, governments, academics and a broad range of stakeholders in society. One of her key messages: go back to the basics of human rights protection and be concrete and focussed in your actions to demonstrate the added value of human rights based approaches.

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2015 Seminar – Intersectionality, the Istanbul Convention, facilitation of work-life balance, reasonable accommodation law

On 24 November 2015 the first annual legal seminar of the new European network of legal experts in gender equality and non-discrimination (EELN) was organised. Due to the precarious security situation in Brussels just before, during and after the days of the seminar, many of those who had registered to attend were forced to cancel. Nevertheless, the seminar brought together almost eighty representatives of the European Commission, EU Member States governments, Equality Bodies, EU umbrella organisations, academics from across Europe, as well as members of the European network of legal experts itself.

The seminar covered the most prominent topics addressed by the EELN during its first year, which ensured lively and well-informed discussions during the plenary session and the workshops. In addition to this participants had the opportunity to exchange views on the implementation and effective enforcement of EU equality and non-discrimination law. Legal developments and future prospects in equality and non-discrimination law were vividly discussed.

In her key note address Sandra Fredman, professor at Oxford University and director of the Oxford Human Rights Hub, gave an overview of various possible approaches to the concept of intersectional discrimination. She also raised the question whether we can interpret existing EU anti-discrimination law to incorporate intersectionality and if there are structural obstacles to do so, discussing various potential obstacles and how these could be overcome.

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2014 Seminar - Enforcement of equality and anti-discrimination law

2014 seminar title image

On 28 November 2014 the seventh annual legal seminar of the European Network of Legal Experts in the Non-discrimination Field was organised in cooperation with the European Network of Legal Experts in the field of Gender Equality (managed by the Faculty of Law at Utrecht University). The seminar attracted 141 participants, including representatives of the European Commission, of EU Member States governments, of Equality Bodies and of EU-umbrella organisations. The seminar also brought together a number of high level academics from across the European Union.

The feedback from the participants, collected through a satisfaction survey (PDF 201 kB) resulted in a good rating.

The objective of the Legal Seminar was to provide the participants with an opportunity to exchange views on the transposition and, particularly, the implementation and effective enforcement of the EU equality and anti-discrimination Directives, to discuss particular issues of discrimination and to share practices and experiences. Current legal developments and future prospects in the area of non-discrimination and gender equality were widely discussed. The programme (PDF 186 kB) of this year’s one-day seminar included both plenary sessions and parallel workshops.

To introduce the 2014 Legal Seminar, Ms.Jenny Goldtschmidt, professor emeritus in Human Rights Law at the Utrecht University School of Law addressed a keynote speech to the participants, drawing from her extensive experience to provide insight into the necessary elements for anti-discrimination and equality law to be effectively enforced and implemented. In addition to strong legal instruments, the mobilization of civil society and empowerment of victims are crucial, as is the availability of multiple instruments such as medication, equality bodies and positive obligations to ensure equality.

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2013 Seminar - Equality law: What kind of equality?

2013 seminar title image

On 29 November 2013 the sixth annual legal seminar of the European Network of Legal Experts in the Non-discrimination Field was organised in cooperation with the European Network of Legal Experts in the field of Gender Equality (managed by the Faculty of Law at Utrecht University). The seminar attracted 141 participants, including representatives of the European Commission, of EU Member States governments, of Equality Bodies and of EU-umbrella organisations.

The seminar also brought together a number of high level academics from across the European Union. The feedback from the participants, collected through a satisfaction survey PDF (90 kB) resulted in a good rating.

The objective of the Legal Seminar was to provide the participants with an opportunity to exchange views on the transposition and implementation of the EU equality and anti-discrimination Directives, to discuss particular issues of discrimination under the title ‘Equality law: What kind of equality?’ and to share practices and experiences. Current legal developments and future prospects in the area of non-discrimination and gender equality were widely discussed. The programme PDF (189 kB) of this year’s one-day seminar included both plenary sessions and parallel workshops.

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2012 Seminar - Equality law for everyone: Challenges ahead

2012 seminar title image

On 26 November 2012 the fifth yearly legal seminar of the European Network of Legal Experts in the Non-Discrimination Field was organised in cooperation with the European Network of Legal Experts in the field of Gender Equality (managed by the Faculty of Law at Utrecht University). The seminar attracted 161 participants, representatives of the European Commission, EU Member States governments, Equality Bodies and EU-umbrella organisations.

The feedback from the participants, collected through a satisfaction survey PDF (76 kB) resulted in a good rating.

The objective of the Legal Seminar was to provide the participants with an opportunity to exchange views on the transposition and implementation of EU equality and anti-discrimination Directives, to discuss particular issues of discrimination under the title ‘Equality law for Everyone: Challenges Ahead’ and to share practices and experiences. The seminar brought together a number of high level academics from across the European Union. Current legal developments and future prospects in the area of non-discrimination and gender equality were widely discussed. The programme PDF (53 kB) of this year’s one-day seminar included both plenary sessions and parallel workshops.

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2011 Seminar - Approaches to equality and non-discrimination legislation inside and outside the EU

2011 seminar title image

On 4 October 2011 the fourth yearly seminar of the Network was organised in cooperation with the European Network of Legal Experts in the field of Gender Equality (managed by the Faculty of Law at Utrecht University). The seminar attracted 158 participants, representatives of the European Commission, EU Member States governments, Equality Bodies and European NGOs. The feedback from the participants, collected through a satisfaction survey PDF (76 kB) resulted in a good rating.

The objective of the Legal Seminar was to provide the participants with an opportunity to exchange views on the transposition and implementation of EU equality and anti-discrimination Directives, to look into legal systems of third countries and to share practices and experiences. The seminar brought together a number of high level academics from across and outside the European Union. Current legal developments and future prospects in the area of non-discrimination and gender equality were widely discussed. The programme PDF (90 kB) of the seminar included both plenary sessions and parallel workshops.

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2010 Seminar - Making equality rights work in practice

2010 seminar title image

On 9 November 2010 the third yearly seminar of the Network was organised in cooperation with the European Network of Legal Experts in the field of Gender Equality (managed by the Faculty of Law at Utrecht University). The seminar attracted 137 participants, representatives of the European Commission, EU Member States governments, Equality Bodies and European NGOs.

The objective of the Legal Seminar was to provide the participants with an opportunity to exchange views on the transposition and implementation of EU equality and anti-discrimination Directives and to discuss particular issues of discrimination under the title ‘Making Equality Rights Work in Practice’. The programme PDF (90 kB) of the seminar included both plenary sessions and parallel workshops.

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