The General Equal Treatment Act

Policy Response DateAugust 18, 2006 Country: Germany General Type: Discrimination Racism and discrimination phenomena: Anti-migrant/xenophobia, Anti-semitism, Islamophobia, Afrophobia, Arabophobia, Anti-roma/zinghanophobia, Religious intolerance, Inter-ethnic, Intra-ethnic, Nationalism, Homophobia, On grounds of disability, On grounds of other belief
Groups affected / Interested in: Migrants, Refugees, Roma & Travelers, Muslims, Ethnic minorities, Religious minorities, Linguistic minorities, Majority, Asylum seekers, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender, Persons with disability Key socio-economic/institutional areas: Anti-discrimination

In August 2006, the General Equal Treatment Act (AGG) entered into force, implementing the four EU Equality Directives:
- 2000/43/EC
- 2000/78/EC
- 2002/73/EC
- 2004/113/EC
The AGG aims to prevent and to eliminate discrimination on grounds of ´race` or ethnic origin, sex/gender, religion or belief, disability, sexual identity or age (art. 1 AGG). It constitutes the most significant legal development in the field of discrimination and, moreover, the core of Germany’s present anti-discrimination legislation.
In the sphere of labour law discrimination is banned on the above mentioned grounds. In the sphere of civil law discrimination is banned on the same grounds, the only exception being the grounds of belief (art. 19 (1) AGG).


The AGG regulates four main aspects, which can be summarized as follows:
1. Discrimination in employment and occupation, including the selection of applicants for job positions;
2. Discrimination and equal treatment in the sphere of civil law; for example in the area of housing or taking-out insurance policies;
3. legal protection against discrimination (meaning the preconditions under which persons concerned are able to proceed legally against discriminatory practices) and the support of unions and associations;
4. establishment of a federal anti-discriminatory body, which should function as focal point and deal with a variety of tasks.


The AGG is divided into seven parts. The first part represents the general part of the AGG (art. 1 to 5 AGG). It determines the purposes and the scope of the act and defines positive action. Further, it differentiates between following types of discrimination (art. 3 (1) to (5) AGG): Direct discrimination, indirect discrimination, harassment, sexual harassment and instruction/ ordering of discrimination.
The second part deals with the protection of employees against discrimination (art. 6 to 18 AGG). Thereby, certain exceptional provisions were introduced which allow for unequal treatment due to occupational requirements (art. 8 AGG), due to the special status of churches and of other organisations which are based on a specific ethos of belief (art. 9 AGG) or on the grounds of age under certain circumstances (art. 10 AGG). Part three refers to the discrimination in the sphere of civil law (art. 19 to 21 AGG). The fourth part lists regulations for legal protection (art. 22 to 23 AGG) and the fifth part contains special provisions for public-law service relationships (art. 24 AGG). In the sixth part, the establishment of an anti-discrimination body (Anti-Diskriminierungsstelle, ADS) (art. 25 to 30 AGG) is mentioned, which is integrated in the Federal Ministry of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (art. 25 (1) AGG). The seventh part contains final provisions (art. 31 to 33 AGG).


Additional information:
Concerning the burden of proof, a person concerned has to provide evidence that discrimination took place. Only then the burden of proof devolves upon the accused party (art. 22 AGG). The AGG provides the right to claim for damage, but the person concerned needs to meet short terms (art. 15 AGG).
Some of the regulations in the AGG might not meet the requirements of the EU directives. The EU Commission pointed to the non-conforming implementation and threatened infringement proceedings in 2007. Especially in the area of housing, the law contains exceptional regulations that limit prohibition of housing discrimination on grounds of ´race` or ethnic origin. Discriminatory treatment is allowed in order to maintain socially stable housing structures and a ‘balanced mixture concerning the economic, social and cultural composition of a neighbourhood’ (art. 19 (3) AGG).
Further criticism concerns the eight characteristics that are regarded as grounds of discrimination, as they are not clearly defined. Also, the AGG does not prohibit discrimination on the grounds of nationality and residence status. Lastly, it is suspected that some provisions might fail to evolve their efficacy.

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