Commission taken to task on discrimination

Date: 22/05/03

THE European Ombudsman has called on the Commission to reconsider a complaint about possible discrimination in Sweden.

In his recommendation, Nikiforos Diamandouros says the executive failed to justify why it did not pursue a 1998 case involving a German national studying in Sweden.

He had to pay a deposit for a telephone subscription, which was not a requirement for Swedes.

The Commission said the deposit was aimed at securing the debts of subscribers whom the company could not trace for lack of a social security number.

Diamandouros, however, found this did not justify the difference in treatment between Swedish and other EU nationals.

The fact that non-resident Swedish nationals could also be required to pay a deposit does not prove there was no discrimination, he added. The Commission has until 31 July to respond.

The European Ombudsman has called on the European Commission to re-eamine a case involving possible discrimination of a German national in Sweden.