Download or read book Reconceptualizing European Equality Law written by Johanna Croon and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 291 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The thesis seeks to widen our understanding of the general principle of equality within European Union law. In its approach it is theoretically ambitious yet grounded in case law analysis. After an introduction into the origins of the notion of equality, the thesis sets out to deconstruct the adjudication by the European Court of Justice as well as by selected Member State courts on some of the most pressing issues of European equality law via the means of comparative institutional analysis. More specifically, it examines the diversity of applied standards of testing by the European Court of Justice, its handling of reverse discrimination and its dealing with affirmative action. Moreover, it looks at the Austrian and German case law on reverse discrimination. Through this exercise, the thesis illustrates that the judges are in their decisions both guided by reaching a 'fair' outcome to the cases and by reflections on their ability to rule on egalitarian issues. The work describes in detail how institutional considerations inform judicial decisions in matters of equality. Building on the finding that institutional thinking influences judicial decision making, the thesis continues to ask whether this practice is desirable. Its concluding chapter argues for an adaptation of the existing equality doctrine in European Union law in order to provide judges, practitioners and academics with tools to merge institutional considerations along with legalist interpretation of equality guarantees in an open and comprehensible manner.