Between social policy and Union citizenship: the Framework Directive on equal treatment in employment

In December 2000, the Council adopted the Framework Directive forbidding discrimination on grounds of religion or belief, disability, age and sexual orientation in the field of employment. The Directive adopted Article 13 EC as its legal basis. However, there are strong arguments suggesting that this was not the correct choice of legal basis; in particular, the Social Chapter of the EC Treaty (Title XI) provided an alternative legal foundation, including different legislative processes (co-decision and the social dialogue). This article first examines the legal grounds requiring a different legal basis for the Directive and then explores the wider political imperatives that may explain the preference of the EU institutions for relying instead on Article 13 EC.