Age Discrimination as a Bone of Contention in the EU

Abstract

Age discrimination takes place when a person is treated less favourably than others merely on the ground of his/her age without any justified reason. Unjustified differential treatment on grounds of age in workplace is prohibited under both international and national documents. The practice reveals that it is generally the older people who are more likely to be subject to this unfair treatment. Taking into consideration the major demographic challenges such as the decrease in the fertility rates and the extension of the life expectancies of older people in the EU, this issue becomes more urgent and significant to deal with. This critical matter is furthermore accompanied by the decrease of the working age population of the EU and the increase of the social security spending of the EU Member States.

Yet, the EU is trying to invoke some measures such as raising the retirement ages and strengthening the labour market participation of older workers. However, it’s seen that most of the Member States on the contrary tend to pursue social policies including the implementation of compulsory retirement ages for older workers which are generally justified by the objective of keeping an intergenerational balance between old and young workers. In this study, this contradiction between the EU’s and the Member States’ polices is questioned and deeply analysed in light of both the EU’s future demographic challenges and the recent case law of the European Court of Justice.