PURPOSE: to establish standards for equality bodies in matters of equal treatment between women and men in matters of employment, occupation, including self-employment.
PROPOSED ACT: Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council.
ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the European Parliament decides in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure and on an equal footing with the Council.
BACKGROUND: equality bodies play a key role in the EU's anti-discrimination architecture.
Directive 2006/54/EC prohibits discrimination on grounds of sex in access to employment and occupation, including promotion, and vocational training, working conditions, including pay, and occupational social security schemes. Directive 2010/41/EU prohibits discrimination between men and women engaged in a self-employed capacity.
Directives 2006/54/EC and 2010/41/EU define the competences of the equality bodies, which are to: (i) provide independent assistance to victims of discrimination in pursuing their complaints about discrimination; ii) carry out independent surveys concerning discrimination; iii) publish independent reports and make recommendations on all matters relating to discrimination; iv) exchange available information with corresponding European bodies.
The existing EU equality Directives do not include provisions on the actual structure and functioning of equality bodies, but only require that they have certain minimum competences, and that they act independently within the exercise of their remit. Due to the wide margin of discretion left to the Member States in implementing these provisions, there are significant differences between equality bodies across Member States, in particular as regards their mandate, powers, leadership, independence, resources, accessibility and effectiveness.
To ensure that equality bodies can achieve their full potential, contribute effectively to the enforcement of all equality Directives and help victims of discrimination access justice, the Commission adopted a Recommendation on standards for equality bodies in 2018. However, most of the issues the Recommendation aimed at addressing remained unresolved.
Therefore, the Commission proposes binding rules to strengthen the role and independence of equality bodies. The European Parliament and the Council have expressed their support for the adoption of new rules to strengthen the equality bodies.
CONTENT: the proposed Directive aims to set minimum standards for equality bodies, addressing their mandate, tasks, independence, structure, powers, accessibility and resources, to ensure that they can, alongside other actors:
- contribute effectively to the enforcement of Directive 2006/54/EC, including the provisions of the Work-Life Balance Directive, and Directive 2010/41/EU;
- effectively assist victims of discrimination to access justice; and
- promote equal treatment and preventing discrimination.
In concrete terms, the proposal:
- provides for the designation of an equal treatment body or bodies by Member States to combat discrimination falling within the scope of Directives 2006/54/EC and 2010/41/EU;
- establishes a general obligation of independence for equal treatment bodies. The specific requirements to ensure this independence relate to the legal structure, accountability, budget, staffing and organisational matters of equality bodies, as well as the rules applicable to their staff and management;
- establishes a general obligation for Member States to provide equality bodies with adequate resources to carry out all their tasks and exercise all their competences effectively;
- clarifies the role of equal treatment bodies in promoting equal treatment and preventing discrimination;
- specifies the way in which equality bodies are required to assist victims after receiving their complaint by providing information on the legal framework, the available remedies, the services they offer, the confidentiality rules applicable, the protection of personal data and the possibilities of obtaining psychological support;
- requires Member States to provide for the possibility of out-of-court dispute settlement, led by the equality body itself or by another existing specialised body, if all parties agree to initiate such a procedure;
- allows equality bodies to investigate possible cases of discrimination and to issue a motivated (non-binding) opinion or adopt a (binding) decision, following a complaint or on their own initiative;
- gives the equality bodies litigation powers to ensure compliance with the principle of equal treatment as set out in Directives 2006/54/EC and 2010/41/EU;
- requires accessibility of all services and reasonable accommodation for people with disabilities;
- ensures that equality Bodies are regularly consulted by government and other public institutions on public policies with equality and non-discrimination aspects;
- provides that equality Bodies (i) are obliged to collect data on their own activities, (ii) are entitled to conduct surveys, and (iii) have the possibility to play a coordinating role in the collection of equality-related data by other public or private entities;
- ensure that the equality bodies regularly plan and publicly report on their work and on the state of equal treatment and non-discrimination.