Freedom of religion and belief in the European workplace

Abstract

In this concluding contribution to the special issue on practices of reasonable accommodation for religion or belief in the workplace, the striking differences and similarities between the six country studies dealing with England, the Netherlands, Denmark, Bulgaria, France and Turkey are discussed. An important observation that emerges from all six analyses, and gives reason for considerable optimism as regards the development of protection of religious freedom in Europe, is that reasonable accommodations are making headway on the ground, even if formal law has not given them binding force. This conclusion ends by addressing the role of European Union (EU) law in promoting labour market policies that can successfully reduce the impact of exclusions and promote the greatest possible inclusion with regard to religious affiliation and/or belief, and also proposes some specific avenues for EU initiative in this area.