Improving human rights respect in the European South : the case of Greece and the implementation of the EU anti-discrimination principle

Abstract

The latest report of the Fundamental Rights Agency of the EU indicates that there is a great margin of improvement in ensuring human rights protection in the member states. Are the existing tools adequate for such an improvement? The report of the European Parliament on the situation of human rights in the EU (2004-2007) requests the Commission to monitor the respect of human rights in the member states. Would such a suggestion be the required solution? This paper seeks to examine and measure, focusing on Greece, the impact of the EU anti-discrimination policies in order to identify the best practice regarding the promotion and protection of human rights. After a brief overview of the development of an EU human rights policy, with emphasis on the policies fighting various forms of discrimination, the paper focuses on Greece and its response to the wide range of EU acts in the field of gender equality, respect of the rights of people with disabilities and combating racism. Finally, it checks the effect of specific European tools, i.e. legally binding acts, soft law, various programs and Action Plans. In the end which approach would benefit most EU's human rights policies in the member states?