EC INSTITUTIONS

EC Institutions

EC Institutions

Q.1

Ans.

EC institutions issue a directive (the “Equal Value Directive”, the EVD) in 2006 seeking to give further expression to the principle of equal pay for work of equal value between men and women across Member States by creating a number of specific employment rights claims for women. Article 13 of the European Community (EC) Treaty establishing the European Community (as amended by the Treaty of Amsterdam) gives the countries of the European Union (EU) powers collectively to take all necessary measures to combat discrimination (Church & Lintner 2003, 12-22). Article 13 also provides the first specific reference to gender/disability discrimination within the EC Treaties. On November 27, 2000, the EU passed Directive 2000/78/EC, which seeks to establish a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation and to render unlawful discrimination on a number of grounds including disability. Directives reconcile the dual objectives (Gutman 2000, 44-59) of (1) securing the necessary uniformity of community law and (2) respecting the diversity of national traditions and structures. The goal of a directive is more that of harmonization than unification. A directive is binding on the member states as to the objective to be achieved, but it leaves it to national governments to decide how the agreed community objective set out in the directive will be incorporated within their own legal system. Each directive lays down a set time frame by which the directive must be transposed into the national law of each member state. Member states are liable to pay damages where loss is sustained by reason of their failure to transpose a directive in whole, or in part, into their national system of law (see Joined Cases C-6 Francovich and 9/90 Bonifaci 1991, ECR 1-5403).

By December 2003, the Non-Discrimination Directive should have been transposed into the national domestic laws of all 15 members' states, although individual countries can opt to wait until 2006 before achieving full implementation. In addition, the acquis communitaire underpinning the accession of new countries to the EU (known as the “candidate countries”) requires a specific undertaking that they will transpose directives into their national laws as a condition of entry. As a parallel initiative, the EU has established a six-year Community Action Programme (CAP), ending on December 31, 2006, aimed at promoting measures to combat discrimination. In addition, the EU Social Policy Agenda, adopted in June 2000 by the Social Policy Council, is committed to monitoring implementation of the Communication from the Commission to Council, European Parliament, Economic and Social Committee, and Committee of the Regions. 2.05.2000COM: Towards a Barrier-Free Europe for People with Disabilities.

The CAP to combat discrimination has three main objectives:

1. To foster a better understanding of issues relating to discrimination by improving knowledge of the problem and assessing the effectiveness of policies and practices

2. To develop the capacity to prevent and to tackle discrimination effectively, particularly by strengthening organizations' means of action and supporting the exchange of information and best practice across Europe

3. To promote and disseminate the values and practices ...