Antidiskriminierungs-Aufruf

Dear Minister We, the undersigned Members of the European Parliament, write with regard to the draft directive on implementing the principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation. The relevance and necessity of this directive cannot be underestimated and we urge the European Council to swiftly move ahead with the process. The European Parliament showed great support for such a directive in its first reading and MEPs are dismayed that this now appears to be blocked and that member states are questioning the need for this. This is not an issue that can be solved at national or regional level and the draft directive has a proper legal basis and respects subsidiarity. Non-discrimination is one of the fundamental values of the EU. However, in practice the level of legal protection to secure these values differs between Member States. This directive would go some way to securing a more concrete way to protect against discrimination outside of the labour market, in areas such as goods and services, thus helping the most vulnerable and often discriminated against in our society. Yours sincerely,