Inventory of Existing National Measures Combating Discrimination outside Employment and their Impact

The report is composed of two strands.

Strand 1

The purpose of strand 1 of this report, published by hec and MPG, is to set out in brief form the law across the EU Member States, Bulgaria and Romania relating to discrimination on grounds of sex, sexual orientation, disability, religion and belief and age (the “relevant grounds”), to the extent that such discrimination falls outside the current scope of EC law. The report is drawn up on the basis of detailed reports in respect of each of the countries surveyed, and a further five (“comparator”) countries: Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and the United States of America. Much of the report focuses on the law of the existing and prospective EU Member states but occasional reference is made to the comparator countries.

Strand 2

The purpose of strand 2 of this report, also published by hec and MPG, is to provide the European Commission with independent and authoritative information on the application and impact of existing national measures combating discrimination in fields and on the grounds where there is no Community legislation. In other words, this study analyses the conclusion of impact assessments of national anti-discrimination law on the grounds of gender, age, religion and belief, disability, and sexual orientation in fields outside employment, such as education, healthcare, access to goods and supply of services, social services and advantages, social protection. This report aims to produce an overview and comparison of existing impact assessments of antidiscrimination legislation. It considers:

• the methodologies of impact assessments used in the field of anti-discrimination; and
• the impact which anti-discrimination legislation has had in various jurisdictions. The report further provides a summary of the conclusions reached by the selected impact assessment studies.