Equality is undoubtedly among the constitutive elements of the European legal order in its broadest sense.1 Both from the point of view of the ECHR, where it nds its concrete expression primarily through the prohibition of discrimination, and within the framework of EU law, where it is elevated into a founding value and a core aim2 of the Union, the principle of equal treatment is a cardinal norm and a powerful symbol of the European polity. For quite some time, however, the unassailable legal and political commitment to remove unjustied inequalities has not translated into the desired results. European societies continue to be fraught with multiple and complex divisions and the promised land for disadvantaged, underrepresented and socially excluded groups is not yet in sight.3 Much of the blame for this failure is rightly thought to be doctrinal.4 If equality is understood as a formulaic and

obligations, it should not be surprising that existing inequalities will be perpetuated ad nauseam.