Plans to fight discrimination due this year

Date: 16/09/1999

By Simon Coss

NEW Social Affairs Commis-sioner Anna Diamantopoulou is set to propose a raft of tough new EU-wide anti-discrimination laws before Christmas.

Officials in the Commission's Directorate-General for social affairs say most of the groundwork for the planned new rules has been done.

"Barring unforeseen circumstances, I would have thought the proposals will be published before the end of the year" said one.

The planned new rules are almost certain to be presented as a 'package' containing three distinct elements.

The first would be a specific EU law which would prohibit discrimination in the workplace . "This is an area where discrimination can inflict the most damage," said Diamantopoulou during her confirmation hearing at the European Parliament.

The new legislation would outlaw discrimination based on race, sex, religion or beliefs, disability, age or sexual orientation.

The second element of the package will be a directive on racial discrimination. While anti-racism laws exist in some form or other in all EU countries, there are large discrepancies between those countries with a 'progressive' approach to the issue and others considered to be lagging behind.

The new proposal would introduce some commonly agreed minimum standards on combating racial discrimination across the Union.

Finally the new Greek Commissioner will push for an EU-wide information programme to be launched to increase public awareness of discrimination issues.

Diamantopoulou has already made it clear that she intends to make the fight against discrimination a top priority.

During her confirmation hearing earlier this month, she told MEPs she would use powers granted to her under the Amsterdam Treaty to tackle the problem head on.

New Social Affairs Commissioner Anna Diamantopoulou is set to propose a raft of tough new EU-wide anti-discrimination laws before the end of 1999. The new legislation would outlaw discrimination based on race, sex, religion or beliefs, disability, age or sexual orientation.