Editing Affirmative action (section)

===Europe===

==== Denmark ====
Greenlanders have special advantages when applying for university, college or vocation university degrees in Denmark. With these specific rules, Greenlanders can get into degrees without the required grade averages by fulfilling certain criteria. They need to have a grade average of over 6,0 and have lived a certain number of years in Greenland. These rules have been in force since 1 January 2014.<ref>{{Cite web|last=lok|title=Optagelse af grønlandske ansøgere — Uddannelses- og Forskningsministeriet|url=https://ufm.dk/uddannelse/videregaende-uddannelse/sogning-optag-og-vejledning/optagelse/optagelse-af-gronlandske-ansogere|access-date=29 August 2020|website=ufm.dk|language=da}}</ref>

==== Finland ====
In certain university education programs, including legal and medical education, there are quotas for persons who reach a certain standard of skills in the [[Swedish language]]; for students admitted in these quotas, the education is partially arranged in Swedish.<ref name="Helsinki med">{{cite web|title=Hakuopas 2011. Lääketieteen ja hammaslääketieteen opiskelijavalinnat |url=http://www.med.helsinki.fi/peruskoulutus/docs/opiskelijaksi/hakuopas_2011.pdf |publisher=Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki |access-date=4 June 2011 |language=fi |year=2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111002143806/http://www.med.helsinki.fi/peruskoulutus/docs/opiskelijaksi/hakuopas_2011.pdf |archive-date=2 October 2011 }}</ref><ref name="Helsinki law">{{cite web|title=Oikeustieteellinen tiedekunta. Hakuopas 2011|url=http://www.helsinki.fi/oikeustiede/opiskelijaksi/valintakokeet/2011/hakuopas_2011.pdf|publisher=Faculty of Law, University of Helsinki|access-date=4 June 2011|page=3|language=fi|year=2011}}</ref> The purpose of the quotas is to guarantee that a sufficient number of professionals with skills in Swedish are educated for nationwide needs.<ref name="Helsinki med" />

==== France ====
No distinctions based on race, religion or sex are allowed under the 1958 [[French Constitution]].<ref>{{cite web|author=Jonathan D. Mott, PhD |url=http://thisnation.com/library/france.html |title=The French Constitution of 1958 and its Amendments |publisher=Thisnation.com |date=7 February 1992 |access-date=28 April 2014}}</ref> Since the 1980s, a French version of affirmative action based on neighborhood is in place for primary and secondary education. Some schools, in neighborhoods labeled "Priority Education Zones", are granted more funds than the others. Students from these schools also benefit from special policies in certain institutions (such as [[Sciences Po]]).<ref>{{Cite journal | doi=10.3989/chdj.2015.016|title = Esencia colonial de una política contemporánea: Por un enfoque fanoniano de la discriminación positiva en Francia| journal=Culture & History Digital Journal| volume=4| issue=2| pages=e016|year = 2015|last1 = Ghorbal|first1 = Karim| doi-access=free}}</ref>

The French Ministry of Defence tried in 1990 to make it easier for young French soldiers of North-African descent to be promoted in rank and obtain driving licenses. After a strong protest by a young French lieutenant in the Ministry of Defence newspaper (''Armées d'aujourd'hui''), the driving license and rank plan was cancelled.<ref>Jean-Pierre Steinhofer, "Beur ou ordinaire", ''Armée d'ajourd'hui'', 1991.</ref> After the Sarkozy election, a new attempt in favour of Arab-French students was made, but Sarkozy did not gain enough political support to change the French constitution.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.lemonde.fr/politique/article/2008/12/17/le-plan-sarkozy-pour-favoriser-l-egalite-reelle-des-chances_1132074_823448.html#ens_id=1128487° |title=Le Plan Sarkozy |work=Le Monde  |date=17 December 2008 |access-date=11 April 2012|last1=Eeckhout |first1=Laetitia Van }}</ref>

After 27 January 2014, following the Norwegian example, women had to represent at least 20% of board members in all stock-exchange-listed or state-owned companies. After 27 January 2017, the proportion increased to 40%. All appointments of men as directors were deemed invalid as long as the quotas were not met, and monetary penalties may apply for other directors.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vie-publique.fr/actualite/panorama/texte-discussion/proposition-loi-relative-representation-equilibree-femmes-hommes-au-sein-conseils-administration-surveillance-egalite-professionnelle.html |title=Vie Publique |publisher=Vie-publique.fr |date=25 June 2002 |access-date=11 April 2012}}</ref>

==== Germany ====
Article 3 of the [[Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany|German Basic Law]] provides for equal rights of all people regardless of sex, race or social background. There are programs stating that if men and women have equal qualifications, women have to be preferred for a job; moreover, the disabled should be preferred to non-disabled people. This is typical for all positions in state and university service {{as of|2007|lc=y}}, typically using the phrase "We try to increase diversity in this line of work". In recent years, there has been a long public debate about whether to issue programs that would grant women a privileged access to jobs in order to fight discrimination. Germany's ''[[The Left (Germany)|Left Party]]'' brought up the discussion about affirmative action in [[Education in Germany|Germany's school system]]. According to Stefan Zillich, quotas should be "a possibility" to help working class children who did not do well in school gain access to a ''[[Gymnasium (Germany)|Gymnasium]]'' (University-preparatory school).<ref>Susanne Vieth-Entus (29. December 2008): "Sozialquote: Berliner Gymnasien sollen mehr Schüler aus armen Familien aufnehmen". Der Tagesspiegel</ref> Headmasters of ''Gymnasien'' have objected, saying that this type of policy would "be a disservice" to poor children.<ref>Martin Klesmann (23 February 2009). "'Kinder aus Neukölln würden sich nicht integrieren lassen' – Ein Politiker und ein Schulleiter streiten über Sozialquoten an Gymnasien". Berliner Zeitung</ref>

==== Norway ====
The boards of all [[Allmennaksjeselskap|public stock companies (ASA)]] in Norway should have at least 40% of either gender.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lovdata.no/all/tl-19970613-045-032.html#6-3 |title=LOV-1997-06-13-45 Lov om allmennaksjeselskaper (allmennaksjeloven) |publisher=Lovdata.no |access-date=29 July 2010}}</ref> This affects roughly 400 companies of over 300,000 in total.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nettavisen.no/nyheter/27-000-flere-bedrifter-i-norge/1874337.html |title=27.000 flere bedrifter i Norge |date=27 May 2004 |publisher=nettavisen.no |access-date=31 May 2015}}</ref> In their study of the effects of affirmative action on presence, prominence, and social capital of women directors in Norway, researchers Seierstad & Opsahl found that, when the affirmative action policy was first implemented, only 7 prominent directors were women and 84 were men. By August 2009, this had risen to 107 women compared to 117 men. The proportion of boards led by a woman remained low overall, but increased from 3.4% to 4.3%. By applying more restrictive definitions of prominence, the proportion of directors who were women generally increased. If only considering directors with at least three directorships, 61.4% of them were women. When considering directors with seven or more directorships, all of them were women.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Seierstad |first1=Cathrine |last2=Opsahl |first2=Tore |title=For the few not the many? The effects of affirmative action on presence, prominence, and social capital of women directors in Norway |journal=Scandinavian Journal of Management |date=March 2011 |volume=27 |issue=1 |pages=44–54 |doi=10.1016/j.scaman.2010.10.002 }}</ref> A 2016 study found no effect of the ASA representation requirement on either valuation or profits of the affected companies, and also no correlation between the requirement and the restructuring of companies away from ASA.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://e24.no/makro-og-politikk/norges-handelshoeyskole/studie-kjoennskvotering-ingen-effekt-paa-loennsomhet/23783217 |title=Studie: Kjønnskvotering ingen effekt på lønnsomhet |date=2 September 2016 |publisher=e24.no |access-date=5 June 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Eckbo |first1=B. Espen |last2=Nygaard |first2=Knut |last3=Thorburn |first3=Karin S. |title=Valuation effects of Norway's board gender-quota law revisited |journal=Management Science |date=18 August 2021 |volume=68 |issue=6 |pages=4112–4134 |doi=10.1287/mnsc.2021.4031 |hdl=11250/3046314 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

==== Romania ====
[[Romani people]] are allocated quotas for access to public schools and state universities.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mmuncii.ro/old/ro/domenii-politici-familiale-incluziune-si-asistenta-sociala-romii---progrese-inregistrate-in-romania-in-perioada-2007---2008-540-view.html |title=Romii – PROGRESE ÎNREGISTRATE ÎN ROMÂNIA ÎN PERIOADA 2007–2008 |access-date=30 January 2013 }}{{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

==== Soviet Union and Russia ====
Soon after the 1918 revolution, [[Inessa Armand]], [[Lenin]]'s secretary and lover, was instrumental in creating [[Zhenotdel]], which functioned until the 1930s as part of the international egalitarian and affirmative action movements.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Stites |first1=Richard |title=Zhenotdel: Bolshevism and Russian Women, 1917–1930 |journal=Russian History |date=1976 |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=174–193 |doi=10.1163/187633176X00107 |jstor=24649711 |quote=These egalitarian and affirmative action movements—in other words, early "communism"—receive short shrift in most Western studies... }}</ref><ref>{{cite thesis |last1=Patterson |first1=Michelle Jane |title=Red 'Teaspoons of Charity': Zhenotdel, Russian Women, and the Communist Party, 1919–1930 |date=29 February 2012 |hdl=1807/32159 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |doi=10.1057/9780230501799_11 |chapter=Socialism in One Gender: Masculine Values in the Stalin Revolution |title=Russian Masculinities in History and Culture |year=2002 |last1=Schrand |first1=Thomas G. |pages=194–209 |isbn=978-1-349-42592-1 }}</ref> Quota systems existed in the [[USSR]] for various social groups including [[ethnic minorities]], women and factory workers. Before 1934 ethnic minorities were described as [[cultural backwardness|culturally backward]], but in 1934 this term was found inappropriate.<ref name="q189">{{cite book |first = Terry Dean |last = Martin |title = The Affirmative Action Empire: Nations and Nationalism in the Soviet Union, 1923-1939| year = 2001| publisher = [[Cornell University Press]]| location = United States| isbn = 978-0-8014-8677-7 }}</ref> In 1920s and early 1930s [[Korenizatsiia]] applied affirmative action to ethnic minorities.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Nicolaïdis |first1=Kalypso |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T9SLDwAAQBAJ |title=Echoes of Empire: Memory, Identity and Colonial Legacies |last2=Sebe |first2=Berny |last3=Maas |first3=Gabrielle |date=2014-12-23 |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Publishing]] |isbn=978-0-85773-896-7 |language=en |quote=Elsewhere in the USSR, the late 1930s and the outbreak of World War II also saw some significant changes: elements of korenizatsiya were phased out... the Russians were officially anointed as the 'elder brothers' of the Soviet family of nations, whilst among historians Tsarist imperialism was rehabilitated as having had a 'progressive significance' |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Chang |first=Jon K. |title=Tsarist continuities in Soviet nationalities policy: A case of Korean territorial autonomy in the Soviet Far East, 1923–1937 |url=https://www.academia.edu/17823472 |journal=Eurasia Studies Society of Great Britain & Europe Journal}}</ref> Quotas for access to university education, offices in the Soviet system and the Communist Party existed: for example, the position of First Secretary of a Soviet Republic's (or Autonomous Republic's) Party Committee was always filled by a representative of this republic's "[[titular ethnicity]]".{{citation needed|date=February 2025}} Russia retains this system partially. Quotas are abolished, but preferences for some ethnic minorities and inhabitants of certain territories remain.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sakhapress.ru/archives/207211|title=Представители коренных малочисленных народов Севера имеют право получить бесплатную юридическую помощь|date=18 February 2016}}</ref>

==== Serbia ====
The Constitution of the Republic of Serbia from 2006 established the principles of equality and the prohibition of discrimination on any grounds. It also allows affirmative action as "special measures" for certain marginalized groups, such as national minorities, by specifically excluding it from the legal definition of discrimination.<ref>[https://advokatiubeogradu.rs/legislation/constitution-of-the-republic-of-serbia.pdf Constitution of The Republic of Serbia] (Constitution of The Republic of Serbia), 2006.</ref> The Roma national minority is enabled to enroll in public schools under more favorable conditions.<ref>[http://www.upis.mpn.gov.rs/Cir/Pravilnici Pravilnik ministarstva prosvete o upisu u srednje škole] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806034147/http://www.upis.mpn.gov.rs/Cir/Pravilnici |date=6 August 2020 }} (Regulation of the Ministry of Education on enrollment in secondary schools), 2021.</ref>

==== Slovakia ====
The [[Constitutional Court of Slovakia|Constitutional Court]] declared in October 2005 that affirmative action—i.e., "providing advantages for people of an ethnic or racial minority group"—was against its [[Constitution of Slovakia|Constitution]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Goldirova |first=Renata |url=http://euobserver.com/9/20123 |title=Slovakia bans positive discrimination |date=19 October 2005 |publisher=Euobserver.com |access-date=11 April 2012}}</ref>

==== United Kingdom ====
{{See also|Independent Commission on Policing for Northern Ireland}}
In the [[United Kingdom]], hiring someone simply because of their [[Protected group|protected-group]] status, without regard to their performance, is illegal. By default, so is any other form of discrimination, quota or favouritism based on such "protected characteristics" in education, in employment, during commercial transactions, at private clubs or associations, and while using public services.<ref name="cre" /><ref name="govuk">{{cite web |author=GOV.UK |author-link=Gov.uk |date=4 April 2013 |title=Types of discrimination |url=https://www.gov.uk/discrimination-your-rights/types-of-discrimination |access-date=7 April 2013 |work=Discrimination: your rights |publisher=GOV.UK}}</ref><ref name="personneltoday.com">{{Cite web |last=Millar |first=Michael |date=17 January 2006 |title=Is there a case for positive discrimination? |url=https://www.personneltoday.com/hr/is-there-a-case-for-positive-discrimination/ |access-date=13 July 2022 |website=Personnel Today |language=en-GB}}</ref> 

The [[Equality Act 2010]] does allow for membership in a protected and disadvantaged group to be considered in hiring and promotion when the group is under-represented in a given area and if the candidates are of equal merit (in which case membership in a disadvantaged group can become a "tie-breaker").<ref name="xperthr.co.uk">{{Cite web |title=What "positive action" is permitted under discrimination legislation? &#124; FAQs &#124; Tools &#124; XpertHR.co.uk |url=https://www.xperthr.co.uk/faq/what-positive-action-is-permitted-under-discrimination-legislation/103008/ |website=www.xperthr.co.uk}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15 |title=Equality Act 2010 |publisher=Legislation.gov.uk |access-date=11 April 2012}}</ref> Under Section 159 of the Equality Act 2010, an employer must "reasonably think that people with the protected characteristic suffer a disadvantage or are under-represented in that particular activity" and any [[positive action]] must be "a proportionate means of enabling or encouraging people to overcome the disadvantage or to take part in the activity".<ref name="xperthr.co.uk" /> Specific exemptions include:
* As part of the [[Northern Ireland Peace Process]], the [[Good Friday Agreement]] and the resulting [[Patten report]], the [[Police Service of Northern Ireland]] are requires to recruit 50% of its numbers from the [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] community and 50% from the [[Protestantism|Protestant]] and [[Ethnic minorities in Northern Ireland|other communities]], in order to reduce any possible bias towards Protestants. This was later referred to as the "50:50" measure.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/1540861.stm |title= Police recruitment 'will be 50:50' |work=BBC News |date=12 September 2001 }}</ref>
* The [[Sex Discrimination (Election Candidates) Act 2002]] allowed the use of [[all-women shortlists]] to select more women as election candidates.<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons/lib/research/briefings/snpc-05057.pdf|title=All-women shortlists|publisher=House of Commons Library|id=SN/PC/05057|date=29 April 2009|author=Richard Kelly and Isobel White|access-date=23 June 2009}}</ref>

In a 2019, an [[employment tribunal]], found that "while positive action can be used to boost diversity, it should only be applied to distinguish between candidates who were all equally well qualified for a role".<ref>{{Cite news | url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-47335859 |title = Force discriminated against white male|work = BBC News|date = 22 February 2019}}</ref>