Kandidaat-lidstaten moeten regelgeving anti-discriminatie doorgevoerd hebben vóór EU-toetreding (en)

As the second deadline this year approaches for putting EU rules on anti-discrimination into national law, the Commission is publishing independent research on legislation in candidate countries regarding discrimination on the grounds of racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age and sexual orientation. The study shows that there has been progress, but there is still work to be done if the candidates are to comply with the Directives by 1 May 2004.

"The current and future members of the European Union must send out a strong signal on the defence of fundamental human rights," said Anna Diamantopoulou, Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs. "The Commission has recently urged current Member States to respect the unanimous agreement they reached three years ago. Those countries that are preparing to join the EU also need to put in place comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation. I hope that the monitoring reports due to be released this autumn will show continued progress on these issues within candidate countries."

The study published today by the Commission on "Equality, Diversity and Enlargement" shows progress in some countries, particularly regarding protection against racial discrimination in employment. However, coverage of discrimination on other grounds is uneven, and further action is needed to tackle racial and ethnic discrimination outside the workplace, for example in education, social protection, housing, and access to goods and services. Some of the legal concepts, such as burden of proof, indirect discrimination and harassment seem also to be causing difficulties.

The report is based on research carried out for the European Commission by a team of independent experts co-ordinated by MEDE European Consultancy in co-operation with the Migration Policy Group. The experts looked at existing legislation in the acceding and candidate countries and compared the level of protection offered with the provisions of the two EC Directives. They also reported on proposed reforms to anti-discrimination legislation under discussion in many of the acceding and candidate countries.

In 2000 the Council adopted two Directives to combat discrimination on the basis of Article 13 of the Treaty. The deadline for transposition into national law for the Directive on equal treatment irrespective of race or ethnic origin was 19 July 2003; for equal treatment in employment and occupation (covering religion, belief, age, disability, sexual orientation) it is 2 December 2003 (and the possibility of extending that deadline to 2006 for the provisions on age and disability). Candidates must transpose the directives before the accession date of 1 May 2004.

Useful links : Report on "Equality, Diversity and Enlargement":

http://europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/fundamental_rights/prog/studies_en.htm