Commissie: zes landen moeten antidiscriminatieregels implementeren (en)

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The European Commission has announced legal steps against six member states which have failed to adopt two key EU anti-discrimination laws - Germany being the worst offender.

The EU executive today (19 July) announced it will take Austria, Germany, Finland, Greece, Belgium and Luxembourg to the European Court of Justice for not fully implementing the EU racial equality directive and the so-called "employment framework directive" which deals with discrimination at work.

Both EU directives were adopted by member states at record-speed in 2000, in a political climate characterised by the will of EU countries to respond to the entry into the Austrian government of the far-right Freedom Party.

According to a Commission spokeswoman, the backlog in implementation in some member states means that "people in these countries still miss the protection by European law, for example if they are treated unfavourably because of their race".

National anti-discrimination legislation offers no alternative to these EU citizens, said the spokeswoman.

"The countries lagging behind in transposition of EU law are exactly those where national legislation is insufficient."

Germany: worst offender

Germany was singled out by the EU executive as the worst offender against EU discrimination law, as it had not even proposed draft legislation to transpose the EU directives to its parliament.

The German government has blamed difficulties between different ministries and "Bundesländer" (regional governments) for the delay - an excuse which is "not acceptable" to the EU executive, said the spokeswoman.

"It makes you wonder whether the Germans are really committed to anti-discrimination legislation", said Anne-Sophie Parent, the Director of "AGE", the European Older People's Platform which fights against age discrimination.

Luxembourg and Greece - the second worst offenders - have proposed legislation to their parliaments, but the legislation has not yet entered into force.

Belgium, Austria and Finland still need all their regions to adopt the EU laws.

Difficult to implement

EU anti-discrimination laws have proven to be particularly tricky to implement as they involve far-reaching legal reforms for member states, such as changing the so-called "burden of proof" in legal conflicts.

Under the EU directives, in cases of legal conflict of alleged discrimination, the obligation to provide proof lies with the accused - for example an employer accused of racism by an employee.

Several member states had to change their law in this respect.

Another specific problem for EU countries is posed by implementing rules against age discrimination - part of the employment framework directive - which involves fields from pensions to insurance.

Various member states, such as the UK, Sweden and the Netherlands, have received additional periods for up to three years to pass the age discrimination legislation.