§ 20 (1) s. 1 of the AGG stipulates that unequal treatment in civil legal relations on grounds of religion, disability, age, sexual orientation or gender may be permissible if there is an objective ground for it. Here, there is a need for both a change and a deletion.

This norm expresses a hierarchisation of the discrimination grounds in § 1 AGG, which should be reconsidered. With regard to the ground gender, this norm also violates the European legal requirements of the Gender Directive 2004/113/EC.

As in other parts of the AGG, a complete proportionality test should be specified for the admissibility of unequal treatment or an exception such as the above mentioned. This means that unequal treatment or exception should only be justified if the means chosen to achieve the objective are proportionate and necessary. The present wording does not appear sufficiently precise.

In addition, the admissibility of different treatment within the framework of private insurance law under § 20 (2) AGG should be limited to the discrimination grounds of disability and age. A need for an exception on the grounds of religion or sexual identity seems inappropriate and not expedient. These grounds should therefore be deleted.

In the future, stricter requirements should apply to unequal treatment on grounds of disability and stage of life. For example, risk assessment must be based on relevant and accurate actuarial and statistical data in order to justify unequal treatment. The data must be reliable, regularly updated and available in full transparency. In addition, it should be examined whether the justification should be limited to certain insurance contracts and whether unequal treatment, e.g. in property and legal costs insurance, should be prohibited in general.