Belgium

Article 13 inserted in the EC treaty in 1997 (in force, 1999) and now enshrined in Article 19 TFEU.

The French-speaking Community (Communauté française), which is referred to as the Federation Wallonia-Brussels (Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles) in the political and media discourse, the Flemish Community (Vlaamse Gemeenschap), the German-speaking Community (deutschsprachigen Gemeinschaft).

The Walloon Region (Région wallonne), the Flanders (Vlaams Gewest) and the Brussels-Capital Region (Région de Bruxelles-capitale). In contrast to the French-speaking part of Belgium, the Region and the Community are merged in the Flemish part.

Council Directive 2000/43/EC of 29 June 2000 implementing the principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of racial or ethnic origin, OJ L 180 of 19 July 2000, pp. 22–26.

Council Directive 2000/78/EC of 27 November 2000 establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation, OJ L 303 of 2 December 2000, pp. 16–22.

Primarily, Directive 2006/54/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 July 2006 on the implementation of the principle of equal opportunities and equal treatment of men and women in matters of employment and occupation (recast), OJ L 204 of 26 July 2006, pp. 23–36 and Council Directive 2004/113/EC of 13 December 2004 implementing the principle of equal treatment between men and women in the access to and supply of goods and services, OJ L 373 of 21 December 2004, pp. 37–43.

Framework Decree for the Flemish equal opportunities and equal treatment policy of 10 July 2008 (OJ (Moniteur belge), 23 September 2008, modified subsequently; Decree of the French Community of 12 December 2008 on the fight against certain forms of discrimination (OJ (Moniteur belge), 13 January 2009, modified subsequently; Decree of the Walloon Region of 6 November 2008 on the fight against certain forms of discrimination, including discrimination between women and men in the fields of economy, employment and vocational training (OJ (Moniteur belge), 19 December 2008, modified subsequently; Decree of the German-speaking Community of 19 March 2012 aiming at fighting certain forms of discrimination, OJ (Moniteur belge), 5 June 2012; Ordinance of the Region of Brussels-Capital of 4 September 2008 relating to the fight against discrimination and equal treatment in the employment field, OJ (Moniteur belge), 16 September 2008, modified subsequently; Decree of the Commission communautaire française of 9 July 2010 on the fight against certain forms of discrimination and on the implementation of the principle of equal treatment, OJ (Moniteur belge), 3 September 2010; modified subsequently.

Charlier and Ringelheim (2015), p. 121.

Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, concluding observations on the initial report of Belgium adopted by the Committee at its twelfth session (15 September–3 October 2014), paras 22–23.

Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, concluding observations on the initial report of Belgium adopted by the Committee at its twelfth session (15 September–3 October 2014), paras 38–39.

2014 ECRI report on Belgium.

CERD/C/BEL/CO/16–19, 14 March 2014, paras 18–19.

Article 2bis of the Moureaux Act inserted by an Act of 12 April 1994, OJ (Moniteur belge), 14 May 1994.

See, among others, Arrijn et al. (1998) and Martens et al. (2005).

Apart from language to avoid to trap the Centre in linguistic disputes which are at the forefront of many political debates in Belgium.

Le travail d’UNIA exprimé en chiffres pour l’année 2015, report issued in June 2016, available on its website (www.​unia.​be).

See, for instance, Vrielink (2015), pp. 51–66.

Judgment no. 7302 of 29 September 2010 of the Commercial Court of Ghent and Decision of 20 January 2011 of the Court of Appeal of Ghent.

CJEU, case C-54/07, Centrum voor gelijkheid van kansen en voor racismebestrijding v. Firma Feryn NV, ECLI:EU:C:2008:397, developed below in Sect. 7.

Judgment of 28 August 2009 of the Labour Appeal Court of Brussels after the preliminary ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union of 10 July 2008 (case C-54/07).

These offences, which may lead to stronger convictions if driven by such an “abject motive,” are: rape and sexual assault (Articles 372–375 of the Penal Code); homicide (Articles 393–405bis of the Penal Code); refusal to assist a person in danger (Articles 422bis and 422ter of the Penal Code); deprivation of liberty (Articles 434–438 of the Penal Code); harassment (Article 442bis of the Penal Code); attacks against the honour or the reputation of an individual (Articles 443–453 of the Penal Code); putting a property on fire (Articles 510–514 of the Penal Code); destruction or deterioration of goods or property (Articles 528–532 of the Penal Code). Except for the offence of harassment, these situations are not normally met in the field of employment and occupation.

Judgment of the Court of First Instance of Brussels (Criminal section) of 26 February 2014, available on the website of the ICEO renamed UNIA (www.​unia.​be).

See, for instance, Labour Court (Arbeidsrechtbank) of Tongres (Flanders), 2 January 2013, Joyce V.O.D.B. v. R.B.NV and H.B.BVBA, judgment no. A.R. 11/2142/A, available on the website of the ICEO renamed UNIA (www.​unia.​be).

CJEU, case C-157/15, Achbita, ECLI:EU:C:2017:203. See also, CJEU, case C-188/15, Asma Bougnaoui and Association de défense des droits de l’homme (ADDH) v Micropole SA, ECLI:EU:C:2017:204 (on a request for a preliminary ruling lodged by the French Court of Cassation on 24 April 2015).

Appeals Court of Brussels, 10 February 2015, available on the website of UNIA (www.​unia.​be).

The “service vouchers sector” is a system of temporary employment in the field of domestic work.

ECSR, International Federation of Human Rights Leagues (FIDH) v. Belgium, complaint no. 62/2010, decision adopted on 21 March 2012 (published on 31 July 2012), developed above in Sect. 1.

ECSR, International Federation of Human Rights Leagues (FIDH) v. Belgium, complaint no. 75/2011, decision adopted on 18 March 2013 (published on 29 July 2013), developed above in Sect. 1.

Para 51 of the 2014 ECRI report on Belgium.

See the press article available on the website of the newspaper Le Soir (www.​lesoir.​be).

Ruling no. 17/2009.

“Le N-VA Matthias Storme nommé administrateur du Centre interfédéral pour l’Egalité des Chances,” Le Soir, 25 October 2014, available on the website of the newspaper Le Soir (www.​lesoir.​be).

“La N-VA a nommé Matthias Storme au poste d’administrateur de l’institution. Ses partenaires n’y voient rien à redire,” Le Soir, 27 October 2014, available on the website of this newspaper (www.​lesoir.​be).

Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, concluding observations on the initial report of Belgium adopted by the Committee at its 12th session (15 September–3 October 2014), paras 22–23.

See above, in Sect. 3.

Council of State, opinions no. 40.689/AG, 40.690/AG, and 40/691/AG, of 11 July 2006. These opinions were appended to the governmental bill presented to the House of Representatives on 26 October 2006 (doc. No. 51 2720/001). Following a number of changes to the original bill, a second text was presented to the Council of State on 2 October 2006. However, the second opinion did not re-examine the question of the division of competences.