EU must create opportunities for all
March 28, 2003 1:51 PM
Liz wants to see disabled people integrated into the workforce across Europe, as they have been in the Peugeot factory in Ryton, Coventry.
West Midlands MEP Liz Lynne successfully tabled an amendment in the European Parliament yesterday, calling for the EU to take greater steps to integrate under-employed and discriminated-against people into the workforce.
The European Council at its meeting last weekend, agreed to take such steps in principle. Liz's amendment welcomed this, and encouraged the Council and Commission to develop the principles laid out in Article 13 of the Amsterdam Treaty, which allows the EU to legislate for anti-discrimination measures on the grounds of gender, disability, race, age, religion and sexual orientation.
She also called for EU Member States to fully implement the Directive on Equal Treatment in Employment. This directive, passed in 2000, calls for discrimination in the field of employment on the grounds of disability, age, religion and sexual orientation to be outlawed by December 2003.
However, many EU Countries have neither made plans to introduce the necessary laws or even apply to the Commission for an extension as permitted in the directive (the UK has applied for such an extension and is due to introduce the directive on the grounds of disability in October 2004 to coincide with the full implementation of the UK Disability Discrimination Act, and on the grounds of age by 2006).
A member of the Parliament's Employment committee, and Rapporteur of the European Year of People with Disabilities 2003, Liz said:
"I am delighted that the European Parliament has supported my amendment. Article 13 was a milestone in the field of anti-discrimination, and people have a right to enjoy the benefits it should bring. I hope all Member States now put words into action by implementing this Directive. I now hope the Commission will bring forward a specific Disability Directive to also cover access to goods and services. "
"Regarding the Employment Directive, this is a ridiculous state of affairs to have got ourselves in. All EU countries committed themselves to introducing this legislation in 2000 - they simply have no excuse not to even apply for an extension. If they didn't like the directive, they had the opportunity to change it or oppose it outright then - as they didn't, they have to implement it."
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