Religious Freedom Vs. Anti-Discrimination: Transposing the Employment Equality Framework Directive with Regard to Exemptions for Religious Organizations in Germany, the Netherlands, and the UK

The Employment Equality Framework Directive (Council Directive 2000/78/EC) was adopted in 2000 in order to establish „a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation“. However, in Article 4(2) the directive states that “a difference of treatment based on a person's religion or belief shall not constitute discrimination where, by reason of the nature of these activities or of the context in which they are carried out, a person's religion or belief constitute a genuine, legitimate and justified occupational requirement, having regard to the organisation's ethos.” This rather vaguely formulated article has left scope for interpretation as to the way member states arrange exemptions from anti-discrimination regulations for faith-based organizations.

In a comparative policy analysis this paper compares the transposition process of the Employment Equality Framework Directive with regard to the exemptions in article 4(2) since the directive’s adoption in 2000 in three countries that differ with regard to church-state traditions and public roles of faith-based organizations on behalf of the state: Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. The question is what actors have been involved in the respective national decision-making processes and what results these processes have produced. The research project is based methodologically on the analysis of documents such as parliament documents that reveal the development of political decision-making processes as well as actors and positions involved.