Less equal than others

Three years after Romania's adoption of the Europe's racial equality and gender equality in the workplace directives, which are supposed to "provide all of the citizens of the EU with basic protection against discrimination," Dilema Veche reports that "negative examples abound in Romania," which continue to be characterized by an intolerance for different types of sexual orientation and gender discrimination in the workplace." Worse still, it seems that Romanians themselves are often subjected to discrimination by employers elsewhere in the EU, to the point where the weekly wonders if "they can hope to benefit from the same opportunities as other Europeans." Quoted by Dilema Veche, MEP Cristian Preda takes the view that Europe has yet to fully dismantle "barriers to labour markets, which continue to affect Romanians, and members of the Rom community who also have to contend with ethnic discrimination."