Age discrimination in financial services. A comparative study between Italy, UK and Austria

This thesis considers age discrimination in financial services, focusing on a comparative analysis between Italy, Austria and United Kingdom. It does this by first examining Directive 2000/78/EC which is the first and the only European legislation existing on age discrimination in the employment field. Additionally, relevant case law is analysed to create a theoretical framework. By this approach, it is possible to see that, although equality is a fundamental principle of European law, both direct and indirect age discrimination can be justified. Therefore, this analysis focuses on Article 6 of the Directive as it allows the Member States to objectively justify age discrimination for the benefit of public economic interests. This conflict between economic interest and equality is evident also in the financial services field, where a European legislation does not exist yet. In this way, in each country, the assessment of risk is strongly linked to domestic law and financial stability. The study focuses on the implication of age justifications on the economy and its relation to population ageing.