On Tuesday 30 May 2006, the Austrian
Representation to the EU organized a discussion on anti discrimination and
equal opportunities.
Daniela Bankier, European
Commission, DG EMPL, outlined
the current legal situation, Carlotta Besozzi, European Disability
Forum (EDF), described the situation of disabled persons and state the EDF´s
wishes and demands vis-à-vis (European) legislation, Manuela Blum, Chamber
of Labour Vienna, Social Policy Dept., addressed the situation of disabled
persons and the implementation of directives in Austria.
The event was moderated by Christa
Prets, Member of the European Parliament.
It is the Article 13 from the Amsterdam Treaty,
implemented in 1999, that confers the right to the European Commission to take
actions against discrimination. Due to the political context of that time, two
directives were quickly created on that juridical base: the Racial Equality
Directive (2000/43/EC) and the Employment Equality directive (2000/78/EC). These new rules had to be incorporated
into national law by the Member States before 19 July 2003 for the first text
and 2 December 2003 for the second. The Member States could also request an
additional period of up to three years to bring their legal systems into line
with the provisions on disability and age. Unfortunately some
of them have not done it entirely yet. In order to sensibilize the european
citizens on the importance on these issues and as further action is required in
order to ensure the full and effective implementation and enforcement of this
legal framework, the European Union decided to lauch a big campaign against
discrimination from 2001 and 2006. Next year, which will be the "European Year of
Equal Opportunities for all", will be another excellent chance to promote
diversity within our society.
more
information on the following website links:
www.stop-discrimination.info/95.0.html
http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/fundamental_rights/pdf/ey07/com07_en.pdf
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