MEP calls for fresh EU anti-discrimination measures

The commission has been urged to propose a new Europe-wide directive to combat age and other forms of discrimination by providers of goods and services.

The call was made by UK ALDE deputy Liz Lynne, who was responding to a report on challenges posed by changing demographics in Europe.

The report, drafted by French Socialist deputy Francoise Castex, was debated by the assembly’s employment and social affairs committee on Wednesday.

In the meeting, Lynne said the report showed the urgent need to consider solutions to Europe’s increasingly ageing population.

One solution, she said, would be new legislation which outlaws discrimination on age grounds by providers of goods and services.

In November 2007, when it published its plan for 2008, the commission did seem to be in favour of a comprehensive directive. However, since then there have been suggestions that the commission may be back-peddling.

The committee was told it is feared the idea of a combined directive covering the various discrimination strands will be abandoned in favour of a single directive covering just disability discrimination.

Lynne told the committee she believes the EU is “not taking the issue seriously.”

She said, “The commission, for example, has lots of meetings to discuss this but never seems to come up with any concrete proposals on this,”

She warned, “The problem is that unless urgent action is taken to address the changing demographics in all our countries and an increasingly ageing population, we are going to find that elderly people are marginalized and pushed to the outskirts of society.”

Some countries, she accepts, are doing more on the issue than others.

In the UK, for instance, existing laws on disability, sexual orientation and religion/belief discrimination go beyond the strict requirements of EU law.

The committee heard that a new directive would level the EU playing-field by ensuring competing businesses operate to the same minimum regulatory standards.

But, it was said, extending protection from age discrimination promises to be controversial and run into legal problems.

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