Les entreprises pressent l’UE d’abandonner ses plans anti-discrimination[en] 

In July 2008, the European Commission published a proposal for a social directive on "implementing the principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of religion or belief, age or sexual orientation".

The directive aims to implement the principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation in areas outside employment. It applies to social protection and health care, social benefits, education and access to goods and services, including housing.

These goals were re-affirmed  by members of the European Parliament when they adopted on 2 March 2009 a consultation report by Dutch MEP Kathalijne Buitenweg (Greens/EFA) by 360 votes in favour and 227 against.

The directive complements three existing directives: one on discrimination based on racial or ethnic origin, both within and outside the labour market, another on discrimination on the labour market and the third on equal treatment between men and women.

Philippe De Buck, director-general of BusinessEurope, called on EU ministers meeting on Thursday to ensure that social legislation does not put companies under further strain.

The demands were spelt out in a letter  to the Czech minister for industry and trade, Vladimir Tošovský, as he prepares to chair a two-day meeting of the 27 ministers in charge of competitiveness and research policy in the EU’s member states. 

Germany and Britain are expected to be most reluctant to back the plan when ministers discuss the Commission's proposal, EU officials said.

"Today's crisis does not allow for a business-as-usual attitude to regulatory policy," Mr De Buck wrote in the letter. "New legislative proposals that risk creating an extra burden on companies should be avoided," he said. 

"We call for the anti-discrimination directive to be withdrawn and for ideas about introducing legislation on EU collective redress to be dropped."

Small businesses in particular have questioned the practicality of the proposal, saying it was open to legal interpretations in the case of disabled persons. "Will all restaurants now have to have a wheelchair ramp? Will there be a differentiation between a small pub and a big restaurant with seating for 200?," asked Anja Weisgerber MEP, vice-president of the SME circle for the centre-right EPP-ED group in the European Parliament.

The Czech Republic, which holds the rotating EU presidency, will present a progress report on the disability aspect of the discussions at a meeting of employment ministers on 8 June. The report will serve as a basis for discussing the directive as a whole, said Radek Honzák, a spokesman for the Czech Presidency.

Outcry

The calls caused outcry among European social NGOs. Conny Reuter, president of the Social Platform, said the European Parliament had repeatedly called for such proposals. 89% of respondents to a Commission consultation  on the issue were in favour of the anti-discrimination plans, he stressed.

"It's odd that BusinessEurope now wants the anti-discrimination directive to be scrapped because of the extra burden on companies," he told EurActiv. "Seven out of 10 European businesses have said there would be no financial impact on them if the laws were passed," he pointed out, citing the results of a consultation that the Commission had carried out before presenting the plans.

Commission defends proposal

Katharina Von Schnurbein, the Commission's spokesperson on social affairs, defended the proposal, saying the claims about costs had been exaggerated by business organisations. 

German business group BDI had evaluated the implementation costs of the last anti-discrimination directive, adopted in 2000, at 1.73 billion euros, she said. But the figures had later been contradicted by the German anti-discrimination office, which estimated the implementation costs at only 26 million euros.

"It is clear that anti-discrimination policies cost something," Von Schnurbein told EurActiv, "but they also protect honourable people".

Last autumn, BusinessEurope stressed that the draft directive "does not respect the subsidiary and proportionality principles," according to which legislation at EU level should only be considered as a last resort when action by national authorities is insufficient.

"The need for such additional legislation in the field of discrimination has not been evidenced by the European Commission, and the EU's policy efforts must be geared towards awareness raising activities and the exchange of good practices at European level," wrote the confederation of European business in a November 2008 position paper.

But Von Schnurbein rejected the claims, saying the Commission's proposal is based on Article 13 of the EC Treaty.