Council Directive (EU) 2024/1499 of 7 May 2024 on standards for equality bodies in the field of equal treatment between persons irrespective of their racial or ethnic origin, equal treatment in matters of employment and occupation between persons irrespective of their religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation, equal treatment between women and men in matters of social security and in the access to and supply of goods and services

What it is

PURPOSE: to establish standards for equality bodies in the field of equal treatment between persons irrespective of their racial or ethnic origin, equal treatment in the field of employment and occupation between persons irrespective of their religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation, equal treatment between women and men in matters of social security and in the access to and supply of goods and services. PROPOSED ACT: Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council. ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: Council may adopt the act only if Parliament has given its consent to the act. BACKGROUND: equality bodies play a key role in the EU's anti-discrimination architecture. Therefore, binding rules are needed to strengthen the role and independence of equality bodies. CONTENT: the Council’s draft aims at ensuring the functioning of equality bodies according to minimum standards , with a view to improving their effectiveness and guaranteeing their independence, so as to strengthen the application of the principle of equal treatment. It sets minimum standards for equality bodies, addressing their mandate, tasks, independence, structure, powers, accessibility and resources, to ensure that they can, alongside other actors: - requires Member States to provide for the possibility of out- of-court dispute settlement ; - ensures that the equality bodies regularly plan and publicly report on their work and on the state of equal treatment and non-discrimination. The Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality adopted the report by Sirpa PIETIKÄINEN (EPP, FI) on the draft Council directive on standards for equality bodies in the field of equal treatment between persons irrespective of their racial or ethnic origin, equal treatment in matters of employment and occupation between persons irrespective of their religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation, equal treatment between women and men in matters of social security and in the access to and supply of goods and services, and amending Directives 2000/43/EC and 2004/113/EC. The committee recommended that the European Parliament give its consent to the draft Council directive. The proposed Directive aims to set minimum standards for equality bodies, addressing their mandate, tasks, independence, structure, powers, accessibility and resources, to ensure that they can, alongside other actors: Equality bodies and their staff need to be free from all external interference and this must be ensured by using all possible safeguards. Equality bodies must genuinely be able to be independent in their actions. For this, adequate funding that corresponds accordingly to the amount and nature of tasks of the equality body should be guaranteed. Equality bodies should have the rights to act as a party in proceedings, to submit observations to the court or to initiate or participate in proceedings on behalf or in support of one or several victims. Member States should also provide for the possibility for parties to seek an alternative dispute resolution to their disputes, for example through a conciliation and mediation process that can be led by the equality body or another existing…

Official title: Council Directive (EU) 2024/1499 of 7 May 2024 on standards for equality bodies in the field of equal treatment between persons irrespective of their racial or ethnic origin, equal treatment in matters of employment and occupation between persons irrespective of their religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation, equal treatment between women and men in matters of social security and in the access to and supply of goods and services, and amending Directives 2000/43/EC and 2004/113/EC