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There are laws in Europe which say The European Government wanted to find out The European Government wrote a document about this. |
The European Commission released a report about practices and rules which have been applied in the member states to tackle the discrimination and inequality. The document evaluates the efforts of the countries to apply two European anti-discrimination Directives: the Employment Equality Directive and the Race Equality Directive.
Adopted in 2000, the directives set out the standards for member states to tackle the discrimination. While the first one addresses discrimination in the workplace and in the labour market, the latter deals with unequal treatment on the basis of race or ethnic origin.
The report states that both directives have been implemented in all EU member states. However, the implementation and enforcement of anti-discrimination rules remains challenging. The report acknowledges that significant efforts are needed to ensure effective protection for victims of discrimination.
“The principle of non-discrimination is one of the core principles of our European Union. Everyone is equal before the law and everyone has the right to live their life free from discrimination. The challenge is to make sure those affected by discrimination can apply their rights in practice – that they know where to go for help and have access to justice,” stated Viviane Reding, the EU’s Justice Commissioner.
The report emphasises the need for improvements in data collection and public awareness-raising. Furthermore, it calls on member states to facilitate the access to complaints mechanisms for victims of discrimination. The EU funds should be used for training of legal practitioners and NGOs representing victims of discrimination to support the implementation of the anti-discriminatory directives.
With regard to disability, the report says that several member states had difficulties applying the provision of reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities, as required by the Employment Equality Directive. One member state was found to have failed in this regard as it did not consider that the provision concerned people with all types of disabilities.
You can find the full text of the Commission’s report here.
Read more at the website of the European Commission.
