Commission takes five Member States to ECJ for failing to implement anti-discrimination Directive

The European Commission announced in December 2004 that it is to refer five EU Member States to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for failing to transpose the 2000 framework equality Directive.

EU Member States had until 2 December 2003 to implement Directive 2000/78/EC establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation, which prohibits discrimination on the grounds of: religion or belief, disability, age and sexual orientation (EU0102295F). However, only four countries (France, Italy, Spain and Sweden) had fully transposed the Directive by this time, and the European Commission subsequently launched the first stages of infringement proceedings against the other Member States (EU0408202N).

In December 2004, one year after the deadline, five of the remaining Member States had still failed to transpose the Directive into national law, either partially or fully (EU0409204F). These are Austria, Finland, Germany, Greece and Luxembourg. The Commission therefore decided on 20 December to take the final step in the infringement proceedings and refer these countries to the European Court of Justice.

The Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, Vladimir Spidla, expressed his disappointment at having to embark on the infringement proceedings. At the same time, however, he acknowledged the efforts that the other Member States have made to put anti-discrimination legislation in place: 'I am encouraged that many Member States, in particular the majority of the new ones, have made real efforts to put anti-discrimination legislation in place on time.'

The 10 new Member States were required to ensure that their legislation complied with the Directive by their accession date of 1 May 2004. Following the entry into force of the relevant national legislation, the Commission will now examine whether the Directives have been properly implemented.