‘ Achbita and Bougnaoui

This paper argues that while the CJEU cases of Achbita and Bougnaoui create some consistency with the case law of the ECHR on freedom of religion or belief in employment, they nonetheless represent a missed opportunity to develop the EU law on religious discrimination in a way that serves both the equality aims of the underpinning Directive, and the cause of European integration more generally. The paper explores the contextual background to the cases, and examines the theoretical debates surrounding religion claims at work. It argues that, by following an approach largely based on human rights thinking from the ECtHR, the CJEU has taken the wrong direction in its first cases, and that it should instead have framed the protection in terms of its own firm commitment to equality. In addition, the paper argues that the CJEU missed the chance to set the case law within the policy of European integration that is served by the EU equality agenda more generally.