Anti-Discrimination Law and Social Policy-Making

The role of today's anti-discrimination law is considered central with regard to the development of social policy-making: it is not only said to be one of the most widely known areas of EU emplyment and social policy but there is also great reliance on the implementation of antidiscrimination stretagies to reinforce efforts in the field of social inclusion. By redistributing opportunities, anti-discrimination (contract) law influences the market order and is thus considered a type of social legislation. The chapter analyses potential achievements and possible shortcomings of anti-discrimination law as a strategy of of social policy-making. The question is whether anti-discrimination law in its current form can be considered to have overcome the continuing dominance of the economic over the social dimension in European integration , or whether it is still following a market-oriented approach , characterised by redistributing the capacities of "human capital" for successful market partecipation.