Equality: a fundamental right in the European Union?

This article analyses the development of a fundamental right to equal treatment or to non-discrimination within the EU legal order through a study of the general principles of Community law, the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and the Article 13 EC Equality Directives. It examines European Union legislation and case law of the European Court of Justice, including the opinions of the Advocates General and the Court of First Instance, in relation to the principle of equality or equal treatment to determine whether they support the existence of a fundamental right to equality before the law and to nondiscrimination. The equality clauses of international instruments are reviewed as aid in this analysis. Despite the fact that the sources discussed appear to establish a right to equality before the law or to non-discrimination, the limitations to the material and personal scope of these sources means that this right is, as yet, not a fundamental, universal right within the EU legal order.