1 Positive Action Measures in European Union Equality Law. Nuria Elena Ramos Martín Post-doc researcher, HSI/AIAS, University of Amsterdam Table of Contents: I. Introduction. II. Different aspects of the equality principle. III. Historical background and conceptual framework. IV. Positive action measures in Community Law. IV.1. European Community regulation on positive action. IV.2. The concept of positive action in the case law of the European Court of Justice. V. Critical analysis and conclusion. I. Introduction. In general terms, positive action comprises all sort of measures aimed to help minorities or social disfavoured groups to overcome decades of past societal discrimination. The adoption of these measures has always been controversial due to the fact that, by setting up a system that benefits women and minorities in the access to employment, training or promotion, the normal outcome of a positive action measure is that an individual belonging to the traditionally privileged group (white male) is penalized by losing his chance to enter a job or obtain a promotion. The debate is established in the following terms: proponents of affirmative action argue that because of prior discrimination in employment, women and minorities are handicapped when they try to enter employment in certain sectors, get a promotion or retain a job. Therefore, as a remedy for the effects of prior discrimination, public and private employers ought to give some sort of preferred treatment to those disadvantaged groups regarding entrance to jobs, promotion and retention of employment. Opponents do not deny that there has been sexual and racial discrimination in the past, but argue that the individual who must lose his chance of entrance to a particular job is penalized unfairly because he bears the burden of redressing grievances made by the whole society. The basis for listing the groups whose societal injury is thought to be so serious as to entitled them to preferential treatment at the expense of individuals belonging to other groups is another point of concern. Moreover, the raking of groups entitled to preferential treatment should be submitted to permanent political and/or judicial scrutiny and updated. Therefore, as these affirmative action policies began to have the desired effect, the categories of people classified as disadvantaged group would change. Furthermore, problems arise in connexion with the idea of preference itself. In this sense, it has been argued that positive action programmes may only reinforce common stereotypes holding that certain groups are unable to achieve success only on the basis of their individual capacities.