Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-11-14-Speech-2-242"
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"en.20061114.36.2-242"2
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".
Madam President, my speech follows on seamlessly from what Mrs in 't Veld said. You may recall the exciting plenary debates that accompanied this Commission’s appointment. After all, in his speech, in which President Barroso asked for the confidence of this Parliament for his team, he referred to the much-debated nomination of Mr Buttiglione and he said – and I quote:
‘However, one good thing will have come out of this unfortunate incident: it has highlighted the importance we attach to decisive political action by the European Union in the fight against all forms of discrimination. For this Commission, civil rights and an anti-discrimination approach will be top priorities.’
A group of Commissioners that would mount concerted action against discrimination was said to be on its way, and I should like to know how often this group meets, what is on their agenda and what has, in fact, been achieved so far. Why have you not yet floated any proposals, as was suggested here a moment ago, to raise the scope of the directive for equal treatment irrespective of sexual orientation, religion or conviction, age or disability to the level of the Race Directive, since the latter does not only cover the labour market, but also the provision of goods and services?
After all, could you, Madam President, perhaps explain to me why, according to European guidelines, a black heterosexual man may not be discriminated against when he applies for a loan from a bank or when he rents a house, but a homosexual man, to all intents and purposes, can? On 16 January, Commissioner Frattini said that he wanted this straightened out, but that the Commission would not propose it because it would not attain the required unanimity in the Council of Ministers.
Well, Madam President, that is not leadership. Will the Commission in future only make proposals if the Council is already in agreement? This is the wrong way round, in my opinion. Moreover, we should capitalise on the increased openness displayed by the Council of Ministers. The Member States should own up to the fact that they are opposed to equal treatment. Let a cross-border, public debate take place on this subject, because I would be interested to see whether Commissioner Wallström would agree with me that only then would Europe come nearer to the citizen.
2007 is the year of equal opportunities, and it appears to me that, as a result, we have no time to lose. Since the Commission has not yet done a great deal in this area, I wanted to make the life of the European Commission a little easier. I have already put a proposal for a new directive on paper on your behalf. That way, there will be no more excuses. It is now up to Mr Frattini to translate Commissioner Barroso’s fine words from October 2004 into action, and I will presently hand the proposal for a directive to the Commission."@en1
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