On Monday 19 January, the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers (DG JUST) published a comparative analysis of non-discrimination law in Europe in 2025, which provides an overview of European non-discrimination law’s application in the 27 Member States based on 2024 national reports.
The report notes differences in how European directives are transposed, and above all applied. As regards the definition of discrimination, several Member States continue to exclude certain legal tools, making proof particularly difficult. In Austria and Luxembourg, for example, the law’s complexity and the high standards of comparison discourage victims.
Access to justice remains a major weakness. The report points to limited legal aid, dissuasive legal costs and excessively lengthy procedures. In Austria and Sweden, claimants have been ordered to pay costs exceeding the compensation they received, while in Slovakia, some proceedings have lasted more than four years. In addition, sanctions often remain insufficiently dissuasive, particularly outside the field of employment.
Disparities in the way national equality bodies operate are also mentioned. In Spain and Portugal, the authorities provided for by law are not yet fully operational, and therefore, despite laws based on European law, victims are not protected in the same way depending on the Member State in which they reside.
The report: https://aeur.eu/f/kjm (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)