On 16 June 2008, Commissioner Barrot confirmed to the European Parliament in Strasbourg that the European Commission will propose a cross-cutting directive aimed at combating discrimination on the grounds of age, disability, religion/belief and sexual orientation in areas outside the field of employment.
We, civil society organisations as well as trade unions working for equality, human rights and social justice, warmly welcome this news and congratulate President Barroso and the European Commission on their consistent commitment to equality for all. We greatly appreciate their political leadership in making this important decision to extend the protection against discrimination to all non-discrimination grounds mentioned under the EU Treaty, and to ensure that all people in Europe are equally protected from discrimination and enjoy the same rights. We also thank the European Parliament for its strong support and we now hope that this initiative gets the full support of all EU Member States.
Signatories:
1. ILGA-Europe – the European Region of the International Lesbian and Gay Association
(ILGA) – www.ilga-europe.org
2. ENAR – the European Network Against Racism – www.enar-eu.org
3. ETUC – the European Trade Union Confederation – www.etuc.org
4. EWL – the European Women’s Lobby – www.womenlobby.org
5. EYF – the European Youth Forum – www.youthforum.org
6. EAPN – the European Anti-Poverty Network – www.eapn.org
7. SOLIDAR – a network of social and economic justice NGOs working in co-development
and international cooperation, social policy and social service provision, and life-long
learning – www.solidar.org
8. AGE – the European Older People’s Platform – www.age-platform.org
For more information please contact
Juris Lavrikovs (ILGA-Europe) at + 32 2 609 54 16 / + 32 496 708 375
Georgina Siklossy (ENAR) at +32 2 229 35 77
