Europese Commissie wijst Estland en Finland op verplichtingen voor gelijke behandeling van seksen (en)

The Commission has sent reasoned opinions to Estonia and Finland to fully implement EU rules prohibiting discrimination in employment and occupation on the grounds of sex (2002/73/EC). The countries have two months to respond. If they fail to reply or if the response is unsatisfactory, the Commission can decide to take them to the European Court of Justice (ECJ).

Vladimír Špidla i, EU Commissioner for Equal Opportunities, said: "This Directive is crucial to tackling gender discrimination, one important goal of the European Union. It was agreed unanimously by the Member States and adopted in 2002, but EU directives cannot reach their full potential if they are not fully and correctly transposed into national laws."

Main problem areas in the reasoned opinion to Estonia:

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  Incorrect transposition of the definitions of harassment and sexual harassment
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  Failure to correctly transpose the article on genuine and determining occupational requirement – a general prohibition to employ women for heavy or other particular types of work is a discriminatory treatment since there is no justification that such works pose a specific risk for the biological disposition of women
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  Insufficiency of the legal provision on discrimination related to pregnancy, i.e. the right to return to the previous or an equivalent post and to benefit from any improvement in working conditions to which she would be entitled during her absence
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  Absence of a legal provision prohibiting discrimination in relation to membership of, and involvement in, an organisation of workers or employers, or any organisation whose members carry on a particular profession.

Main problem areas in the reasoned opinion to Finland:

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  Definition of harassment and sexual harassment: the Commission considers that Finnish legislation (Finnish Equality Act) does not provide a full, abstract, legal definition of harassment and sexual harassment. A sufficiently precise and clear legal definition is a prerequisite for individuals to fully understand their rights and is necessary for the concept to become operational, as it has been also pointed out by the ECJ.
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  The rules on compensation and reparation: the Commission remains of the opinion that to ensure real and effective compensation or reparation measures, fixing a general upper limit shouldn't be permitted. Because of that the Finnish Equality Act is not in line with the explicit requirements of the Directive.

The Commission has started a careful monitoring of the transposition of Directive 2002/73/EC by Member States detecting a number of problems. At the start of this year the Commission thus sent letters of formal notice to 22 Member States including Estonia and Finland (Austria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Greece; Finland, France, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Latvia, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, Slovenia, Slovakia and the United Kingdom).

All Member States have replied to the letters of formal notice and the Commission is finalising its analysis of the responses. As a result of these examinations, the Commission finds that Estonia and Finland have not implemented the Directive correctly and will therefore receive 'reasoned opinions' as a further step. This is the second step of the infringement procedure. Actions vis-à-vis other Member States may follow subject to finalisation of the analysis.

Background:

Directive 2002/73/EC is a central element in the broader body of European legislation on equal treatment between women and men. It aims to implement the principle of equal treatment between men and women, which involves the absence of any discrimination on the basis of sex, either directly or indirectly by reference, in particular, to marital status.

The directive introduces in particular detailed definitions of direct and indirect discrimination, harassment and sexual harassment. It requires the creation of a body or bodies for the promotion, analysis, monitoring and support of equal treatment of all persons without discrimination on the grounds of sex, asks the Members States to encourage social dialogue with non-governmental organisations, etc.

The deadline for transposing the Directive into national law was 5 October 2005.

Further information:

http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/gender_equality/legislation/index_en.html