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PAGE EUROPEAN REVIEW
OVER THE LAST FEW months the European Union has made several moves in the direction of combatting discrimination. At the Inter-Governmental conference in Amsterdam, three years ago, a treaty was signed which provided for measures to enforce equal treatment regardless of racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation (Article 13). Last December, an 'anti-discrimination package' was adopted by the European Commission to try and put the treaty into practice.The package consisted of three initiatives: 1) a directive on solely racial discrimination which has a wide scope 2) another proposed directive in the field of employment to outlaw discrimination on any of the grounds mentioned above and 3) a Community Action Programme to spread best practice and encourage the exchange of information and experience.
The first of these initiatives to be entered in the statute book is the measure against racial and ethnic discrimination. In June agreement was reached in the Council of Ministers Employment and Social Policy Council between Member States. The areas covered by the directive are access to employment, working conditions, membership of employers' or workers' organisations, access to social protection and social security, social advantages, access to education and to goods and services.
Article 1 of the directive defines direct and indirect discrimination as follows: 'direct discrimination shall be taken to occur where one person is treated less favourably than another is, has been or would be treated in a comparable situation on grounds of racial or ethnic origin'... 'indirect discrimination shall be taken to occur where an apparently neutral provision, criterion or practice would put persons of a racial or ethnic origin at a particular disadvantage compared with other persons, unless that provision, criterion or practice is objectively justified by a legitimate aim and the means of achieving that aim are appropriate and necessary'.
Article 7 provides for redress for victims of discrimination through judicial or administrative procedures 'Member States shall ensure that judicial and/or administrative procedures, including where they deem it appropriate conciliation procedures, for the enforcement of obligations under this Directive are available to all persons who consider themselves wronged by failure to apply the principle of equal treatment to them'.
Article 15 seeks to ensure that adequate sanctions are taken against those guilty of discrimination 'Member States shall lay down the rules on sanctions applicable to infringements of the national provisions adopted pursuant to this Directive and shall take all measures necessary to ensure that they are applied. The sanctions, which may comprise the payment of compensation to the victim, must be effective, proportionate and dissuasive'.
Article 8 shifts the burden of proof from the complainant to the person complained of once the initial facts have been established 'when persons who consider themselves wronged because the principle of equal treatment has not been applied to them establish, before a court or other competent authority, facts from which it may be presumed that there has been direct or indirect discrimination , it shall be for the respondent to prove that there has been no breach of the principle of equal treatment'. This does not apply to criminal cases.
Article 13 covers the setting up of bodies to positively promote equal treatment of all persons such as the Commission for Racial Equality in the U.K. and article 17 provides for five-yearly reports from Member States to the Commission on the implementation of the directive.
Although the discrimination package took 3 years to be adopted, progress since then has been swift, by EU standards. After the Council of Ministers June meeting the directive was published in the Official Journal of the European Communities on 19 July and Member States now have 3 years to implement it by incorporating it into their national laws. The second measure of the package was adopted by the Commission in January. It only applies to the field of employment but covers a wider range of discrimination.
The provisions of the directive on equal treatment (racial and ethnic origin):
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The anti racial discrimination directive is available on the internet at |
http://europa.eu.int/smartapi/cgi/sga_doc? |
IN FRANCE THE 'Aubry laws' which seek to introduce a 35 hour week have begun to affect collective bargaining. In the retail sector 4 unions and the employers' federation have concluded an agreement after two years of negotiation. To satisfy the 'loi Aubry' workers may either be given extra days off on a weekly basis, or have their annual hours reduced to less than 1,600, so that an average 35 hours per week are worked. Also six day weeks can only be worked on a maximum of nine weeks per year and Sunday and public holiday working must be payed at double time.
THE IG METALL UNION in the German steel industry has negotiated a two year deal which will see pay rise by 3.3% in 2000 and 2.2% in 2001, inflation is currently at 1.9% in Germany. Interestingly the 35 hour week agreed will only apply to the former West Germany, in the east they must still do 38 hours.
THE OVERHEATING of the Irish economy (see Issue 10) seems to be influencing trade union aspirations. Siptu, the largest union, wants higher pay or tax credits when the current 'Programme for Prosperity and Fairness' is reviewed. This is because inflation is currently running at 5.5%. The employers, however, claim that the review has no remit to re-open pay negotiations.
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