On 7 May, EU Ministers held the first meeting of the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council (EPSO) dedicated entirely to equality issues. The agenda included the adoption of standards for equality bodies and on combating violence against women, a discussion on equal treatment directive, a policy debate on women’s rights and a host of other topics related to equality, including the EU candidate for the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Debate on the equal treatment directive
The ministers held a policy debate on the Equal Treatment Directive. This proposal was published in 2008 and has been blocked since by EU Ministers.
The directive is meant to set minimum requirement on the prohibition of discrimination on the grounds of disability (as well as religion or belief, age and sexual orientation) in access to social protection (social security, social assistance, social housing and healthcare), education, and access to and supply of good and services (including housing). It defines and recognises denial of reasonable accommodation as a form of discrimination against persons with disabilities.
Despite efforts from the Belgian presidency, no agreement was reached so far to adopt the text, which requires unanimity in the Council. The Belgian minister explained that it was still a priority for Belgium and invited Member States to propose steps and measures to achieve an agreement. Her call to reach an agreement was echoed by the EU Commissioner for Equality, Helena Dalli.
The following countries explicitly expressed support for the adoption of the Directive: Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden.
Three countries did not support its adoption at the current stage: Germany, Czechia and Italy.
Denmark expressed overall support but raised concerns and reservations on some provision related to age, due to its social system and ageing population.
Poland and Lithuania reminded that all EU Member States ratified the UN Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities and that the Directive could support the implementation of the Convention. Slovenia stressed that even if some measures may require costs, they are necessary to ensure the fundamental rights of persons with disabilities. Latvia said that the Directive must comply with the CRPD and the Accessibility Act.
Germany explained that it needed to finalise its position and would try to do so before the end of the Belgian presidency, particularly looking at the financial implication of the law. Italy also talked about the need to assess the implication of the directive through a more precise impact assessment. Czechia, from its side, acknowledged the importance of combatting discrimination but considered that it is sufficiently done by EU Member States and that, following the principle of subsidiarity, should be left to the national level.
Several Member States hoped that an agreement could still be reached by the next EPSCO meeting in June.
Directives on standards for equality bodies and on combating violence against women
During the meeting, the Council gave its final approval on the Directives on standards for equality bodies and the Directive on combating violence against women.
The laws included important disability provisions.
The Directive on combating violence against women – which was the focus of our campaign on forced sterilisation – will still introduce important obligations, even if it failed to criminalise forced sterilisation. It includes the creation of aggravating circumstances when the crime is committed against a woman or girl with disabilities, guidelines for authorities acting in criminal proceedings on how to treat victims in a disability-sensitive manner, and accessibility of victims’ services and support for women and girls with disabilities, as well as targeted preventive measures and information presented in formats accessible for persons with disabilities.
The Directives on standards for equality bodies will introduce accessible and reasonable accommodation obligations as well as requirements related to independence, resources and consultation. The objective of the laws is to strengthen the role of equality bodies, so they are better equipped to promote equality and support victims of discrimination.
The Directives have now reached the final stage of the Official Journal of the EU and then EU Member States will have to transpose them into their national law.
EU candidate to the CRPD elections
The Commissioner for Equality presented the candidacy of Inmaculada Placencia Porrero to be an expert on the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Elections will take place in June. She explained that it is the very first time the EU has put forward a candidate to any UN Treaty Body election and the importance of ensuring expertise on the EU at the CRPD Committee. There are currently no experts from the EU on the Committee.
She called EU Member States to support the candidate during the elections, noting that comprehensive outreach is taking place with the support of the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the European External Action Service and the EU Delegation to the UN in New York.
Women’s rights and gender equality
After discussion related to equality, ministers held a policy debate on the topic of women in public life, focusing on ways to enhance women’s representation in decision-making and foster gender equality in leadership roles.
They adopted Council conclusions on the economic empowerment and financial independence of women as a pathway to substantive gender equality. The text includes two references to women with disabilities: regarding the marginalisation they face due to gender pay gaps and the underlining the need to collect disaggregated data.
Other topics
Under any other business, the ministers discussed a series of other topics including:
- The state of play of a survey on violence against women, which will be published by the European Institute on Gender Equality by the end of 2024, and of the implementation of the EU’s accession to the Istanbul Convention.
- The state of play of the Commission’s upcoming communications on the implementation of its 2020-2025 LGBTIQ Equality Strategy and on progress made in implementing the EU action plan against racism.
Read the full summary of the EPSCO and related documents on the Council website.
Photo copyright: European Union