“DISCRIMINATION BY ASSOCIATION” - BETWEEN JURISPRUDENTIAL CONSECRATION AT EUROPEAN LEVEL AND LEGISLATIVE DESIRE IN ROMANIA. SOME CONSIDERATIONS
“DISCRIMINATION BY ASSOCIATION” - BETWEEN JURISPRUDENTIAL CONSECRATION AT EUROPEAN LEVEL AND LEGISLATIVE DESIRE IN ROMANIA. SOME CONSIDERATIONS

Summary/Abstract: Discrimination by association is a concept that, while not expressly regulated by the European Union law, has been enshrined in the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union. It allows the extension of the legal protection provided by the antidiscrimination legislation of the European Union to persons who, although they do not belong to the protected categories due to the reasons of discrimination envisaged (racial and ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age and sexual orientation), undergo less favorable treatment or certain disadvantages as a result of the links ("association") with a protected category. In Romania, discrimination by association is not consecrated at the legislative level, but in recent years two legislative initiatives (still unfinished) have been promoted in order to regulate it. In this context, the article aims to analyze the scope of discrimination by association, starting from the European legal framework in the field of non-discrimination and from the interpretative case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union. The main landmarks of the Court's case law and its possible implications at national level are identified. At the same time, by making a brief inroad into domestic law in combating discrimination, the paper concludes that, although there are certain obstacles, national law can be interpreted to include discrimination by association. Therefore, although a legislative consecration of discrimination by association is preferable, it should be done with a degree of caution given the possible implications and persistence of certain ambiguities in the relevant European case law.

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