Press Release: New initiatives to favour equal opportunities in the Commission

On 29.11.00, building on its recent initiatives, notably on efforts to increase the access of qualified women officials to management posts, the Commission adopted a large wide-ranging series of proposals on the promotion of equal opportunities for its staff. Some of these measures will require modification of the Staff Regulations, others involve changes to internal management practices. Measures range from modernising the vocabulary used in the Staff Regulations to make it gender neutral to the substantial change of shifting the burden of proof to the employer in cases of alleged discrimination. In a related set of decisions adopted in October 2000, the Commission proposed upgrading the provisions pertaining to maternity, paternity, parental and personal leave, as well as facilitating more flexible working arrangements, such as to part-time work, in appropriate circumstances.

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