Germany transposed the General Equal Treatment Act (AGG) in 2006. While it has largely implemented the EU directives on equal treatment, there are still issues to be covered. Experience with anti-discrimination complaints and their judicial interpretation shows that the status quo of the law is not acceptable.

Therefore BUG has put together a comprehensive list of aspects for the General Equal Treatment Act that should be amended. This includes, amongst other things, the introduction of NGO legal standing, the strengthening of the Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency (ADS) and the granting of legal protection from structural discrimination.

The federal government has announced a reform of the General Equal Treatment Act for 2023. On January 25, 2023, 100 organizations jointly presented a comprehensive list of amendments to the law proposal and, as an alliance, put forward a statement with 11 central demands.

Here you will find the press release of the alliance in which the BUG is actively involved.

Here you can find the document on how to amend the AGG containing a wide range of innovative proposals for modification. It includes a synoptic table (Appendix 1) of the existing legal text, incorporating the proposed changes.

In addition, BUG has drafted a proposal for a federal anti-discrimination law (only available in German) to ensure protection against discrimination from governmental actors.

The honorary director of BUG, Vera Egenberger, has also written a paper discussing amendments to the AGG for the Friedrich Ebert Foundation.

In a position paper, the BUG has presented the essential points that, from its perspective, should be considered in the reform of the AGG. BUG has already supported several legal cases and therefore has been able to gain experience with the AGG and identify weak spots.