A/70/335 18. Although, there is no clearly stated human rights obligation for a country to disaggregate data under ethnic criteria, ethnic data could be considered as a component of the right to non-discrimination. The right to be free from discrimination includes the right of access to information which could be evidence to prove discrimination and an argument could be made that data disaggregated by ethnicity is part of such information. The State has a duty to ensure equality and that should be interpreted to include the duty to collect and analyse data disaggregated by ethnicity in order to identify inequality and monitor the effectiveness of measures implemented to remedy imbalances. 5 19. Because non-discrimination is a cross-cutting human rights principle affecting all aspects of the realization of rights for an individual, subgroups of a population susceptible to being at a disadvantage should be identified while studying the demographic trends, employment practices and opportunities, income distributi on, educational levels, patterns and trends of migration, family composition and structure, social support networks and health conditions of a population. B. Regional policy frameworks 20. At the regional level, article 21 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union prohibits discrimination based on any ground such as sex, race, colour, ethnic or social origin, genetic features, language, religion or belief, political or any other opinion, membership of a national minority, property, bir th, disability, age or sexual orientation and nationality. The European Union anti -discrimination directives prohibit discrimination on the grounds of racial or ethnic origin (directive 2000/43/EC) and religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientat ion (directive 2000/78/EC). They prohibit direct and indirect discrimination, harassment, instruction to discriminate and victimization, and require member States to establish efficient sanctions and remedies. The directives also provide protection in a n umber of key areas of life, including employment, education, social security and health care, and access to and supply of goods and services, including housing (directive 2000/43/EC). 21. Neither of those instruments, however, poses data collection and processing as a condition for monitoring levels of discrimination and inequality. Nonetheless, in its most recent report on the implementation of the two directives, dated 17 January 2014, the European Commission emphasized that, although there is no requi rement on member States to collect equality data, the collection and analysis of such data is necessary to fight discrimination and promote equality because it provides evidence of existing discrimination, making it transparent and quantifying it. In its r eport, the Commission further argued that the collection of data, which is the responsibility of member States, would allow the impact of measures taken for specific groups to be evaluated. It further deplored the fact that the availability of such data re mained limited across the region. 22. In its first general policy recommendation on combating racism, xenophobia, antisemitism and intolerance (1996), the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance of the Council of Europe emphasized that it was di fficult to develop and __________________ 5 8/24 See Kathryn Ramsey, “Disaggregated data collection: a precondition for effective protection of minority rights in South-East Europe”, Minority Rights Group International (2006). 15-14106