The impact of Directive 2000/78 on the protection of LGB persons and same-sex couples from discrimination under EU law

This paper will have as its aim to assess the impact of Directive 2000/78 on the protection of LGB individuals and same-sex couples from discrimination under EU law. It will analyse the 2000 Directive, aiming to demonstrate how it has improved the position of LGB persons and same-sex couples under EU law but, also, to highlight its shortcomings. It will, moreover, consider whether the gaps in protection left by the Directive are satisfactorily filled by other instruments and, in particular, by the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights which, in its Article 21, prohibits discrimination on, inter alia, the ground of sexual orientation. Finally, it will be examined whether other pieces of EU legislation which may come into force in the future will be able to cover these gaps. The paper will not merely seek to analyse the above legal instruments, but it shall also focus on critically assessing the judgments in which the ECJ has offered an interpretation of these instruments.