“DISCRIMINATION BY ASSOCIATION” - BETWEEN JURISPRUDENTIAL CONSECRATION AT EUROPEAN LEVEL AND LEGISLATIVE DESIRE IN ROMANIA. SOME CONSIDERATIONS

Rezumat

Discrimination by association is a concept that, while not expressly regulated by the

European Union law, has been enshrined in the case law of the Court of Justice of the

European Union. It allows the extension of the legal protection provided by the antidiscrimination

legislation of the European Union to persons who, although they do not

belong to the protected categories due to the reasons of discrimination envisaged (racial and

ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age and sexual orientation), undergo less

favorable treatment or certain disadvantages as a result of the links ("association") with a

protected category.

In Romania, discrimination by association is not consecrated at the legislative level,

but in recent years two legislative initiatives (still unfinished) have been promoted in order

to regulate it.

In this context, the article aims to analyze the scope of discrimination by association,

starting from the European legal framework in the field of non-discrimination and from the

interpretative case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union. The main landmarks

of the Court's case law and its possible implications at national level are identified. At the

same time, by making a brief inroad into domestic law in combating discrimination, the

paper concludes that, although there are certain obstacles, national law can be interpreted to

include discrimination by association. Therefore, although a legislative consecration of

discrimination by association is preferable, it should be done with a degree of caution given

the possible implications and persistence of certain ambiguities in the relevant European

case law.