ABSTRACT

In the year 2000 European Council enacted a new regulation, namely the Framework Employment Directive (2000/78/EC) prohibiting discrimination on various grounds, including the age. The Directive is the first so specific and accurate tool in the fight against discrimination on the European level. The Directive is not only a legal tool, but it also includes various provisions pertaining to social and political aspects of the fight with discrimination. They include, i.e. the obligation of the Member States of the EU to launch informative and awareness campaigns about the rights of the individuals and the acts of breach of these rights.

In the paper, I examine the basic provisions of the Directive in order to present the scope of the protection guaranteed by the law, as well as the deficits of this legal act. Moreover, I attempt to provide a reasoned answer to the major research question concerning the meaning of the Directive for the growing number of seniors in Europe, and also the possible social and cultural consequences of this legal act for the European societies. The rise of social awareness of the problem of discrimination of older people can certainly be perceived as one of the most significant potential results of the new law.

Key words: discrimination, older workers, European law.

Introduction

The function of law as a social development agent in the contemporary societies is a recognized phenomenon and as such it is also a subject of sociological reflection and research (Kojder 2001).