Abstract
The principle of equal treatment has become constitutionalized within the framework of the EU legal order. However, its scope and substance remain uncertain, its impact is confined to the restricted horizons of EU law, and its normative foundations are contested. This article explores these issues by focusing on a number of judgments by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in cases involving claims of discrimination based on the ground of sexual orientation. These judgments illustrate both the positive impact and also the uncertain scope and substance of the principle of equal treatment as constitutionalized within EU law. It concludes by highlighting the need for the CJEU's equality jurisprudence to engage to a greater degree with human dignity and other values, in order to give greater definition and clarity to the concept of equal treatment.
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