Equal treatment for men and women

Abstract

Abstract The Court of Justice recognizes a general principle of non-discrimination or equality as ‘one of the fundamental principles of Community law’. Aristotelian in origin, the general principle of equality is deceptively straightforward. It imposes two requirements: first, ‘that similar situations shall not be treated differently unless differentiation is objectively justified’ , and second that two situations which are essentially different should not be treated in the same way without objective justification.: The Court regards the general principle of equality as having been given specific expression in several provisions of Community law expressly prohibiting certain forms of discrimination. They include those laying down the principle of equal treatment for men and women. The notion of equality has proved particularly troublesome both to define and to apply in that context. The rapid evolution in attitudes to discrimination on grounds of sex since the formation of the Community has presented the Court with a series of challenges which it has not always confronted convincingly.