On the 2 July 2008, the European Commission (EC) adopted a proposal for a Directive which provides for protection from discrimination on grounds of age, disability, sexual orientation and religion or belief beyond the workplace. This new Directive would ensure equal treatment in the areas of social protection, including social security and health care, education and access to and supply of goods and services which are commercially available to the public, including housing. For more information see the Q&A posted on our website.
You can download the Executive Summary of the Commission's response or read it below. You can also download the Commission's full response to the consultation.
Executive Summary of the Commission response to the UK government consultation on the Directive:
- EHRC supports this Directive and urges the government to adopt a positive negotiating position which seeks to strengthen the Directive and not weaken any of its current provisions;
- EHRC believes that the scope of the Directive is legally compliant with EU Treaties and that the EU does have competence to legislate on anti-discrimination in relation to goods and services (including access to education, housing, transport, health, social advantages) as it has already done so with the Race Directive;
- EHRC has carefully considered UK and EU evidence of harassment on the grounds of sexual orientation and religion and belief and supports the proposal in the Directive to extend protection against harassment in accessing goods and services on both grounds;
- EHRC supports the Directive’s comprehensive age discrimination provisions and urges the government to change its negotiating position in relation to under-18s, which we believe should be covered by the Directive;
- EHRC believes that age based differences in treatment are objectively justifiable where they are a proportionate response to a legitimate aim, or when they are targeted measures designed to address or prevent disadvantage;
- EHRC believes that age-based differences in treatment in respect of financial services should be a proportionate response to increased risk or costs and should be based on evidence. Evidence could include actuarial or statistical data, or other bona fide evidence on which it is reasonable to rely, and data should be regularly updated and available to the public;
- EHRC believes that the manufacture and design of products should be covered by the requirements of the Directive. The EHRC will conduct further analysis and carry out consultation with relevant stakeholders in order to bring forward detailed proposals concerning the most effective and proportionate way to address this;
- EHRC believes that better, consistent domestic and co-ordinated EU action is required to create accessible transport vehicles (especially taxis, ships and aircraft), transport services and related infrastructure, within a reasonable timescale;
- EHRC supports the legal requirement in the Directive for anticipatory reasonable adjustments to be made in relation to new and existing premises, and we also support the proposal for Article 4 of the Directive to cover reasonable accommodations by way of physical alterations to those premises;
- EHRC supports the timescale for transposition set out in the Directive as currently drafted; we recognise that a longer timescale might have to be agreed to accommodate other member states; we urge the government to nevertheless transpose the Directive within the current proposed timescale as a matter of best practice;
- EHRC does not support the exclusion of marital/family law and reproductive rights from protection under the Directive as this exclusion is not consistent with human rights principles or European Court for Human Rights case law;
- EHRC believes that the Directive could be further strengthened by adding a mainstreaming clause, protection of discrimination by association or perceived status, and protection against multiple discrimination;
- EHRC believes that the Directive should clearly state that equality bodies ought to be adequately funded to perform their role, and independent of both government and civil society;
- EHRC calls on the government to undertake a comprehensive Equality Impact Assessment of the Directive across all protected grounds as soon as possible;
- EHRC strongly encourages the government to continue dialogue with stakeholders; to consider publishing all responses to this consultation on the GEO website; and to issue its own response indicating its views on the evidence and arguments received and how these have affected its negotiating position on the Directive;
- EHRC acknowledges that compromises will need to be made in order for unanimity among the EU-27 to be reached, but urges the government to adopt strong red lines which would prevent a restriction of the Directive to disability alone, and any regression from the level and scope of protection offered by the Race Directive.
For more information, download the linked documents or contact the EHRC International Team at eudirective@equalityhumanrights.com.