"It is argued that accessing decent work and employment is among the most effective ways of integrating people and encouraging social cohesion, and it was within this framework of understanding that, just over ten years ago, two Directives were passed: Council Directive 2000/78/EC of 27 November 2000 establishing a general framework for equal treatment in accessing employment and while in work and Council Directive 2000/43/EC of 29 June 2000 implementing the principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of racial or ethnic origin.1 The Equality Directives do more than simply locate equality issues within the workplace. They also place a particular responsibility on Member States to promote social dialogue between the social partners, employers, and trade unions to work towards the promotion of equality. This article considers the extent to which the directives have been successful in this regard through an examination of initiatives taken by Europe's trade unions to foster equal treatment. Based on a study of 130 such trade union initiatives in thirty-four European countries, selected on the basis of their significance or degree of innovation in relation to their specific country contexts, the article examines whether and in what way the principles enshrined in the directives have impact on the practices of Europe's trade unions while also considering whether their histories, geographies, policies, and practices together with their contexts of operation make the promotion of equality in all of the areas covered by the directives a challenge too far. This also at least raises the question as to whether a single framework for legal regulation can operate as an effective tool for the promotion of equality, in particular, given the responsibility of trade unions to their members, who, in periods of economic crisis, may focus on job protection measures to the exclusion of other policies."

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