Activities of Eugenia RODRÍGUEZ PALOP related to 2022/0400(COD)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on standards for equality bodies in the field of equal treatment and equal opportunities between women and men in matters of employment and occupation, and deleting Article 20 of Directive 2006/54/EC and Article 11 of Directive 2010/41/EU
Amendments (19)
Amendment 114 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 16
Recital 16
(16) Equality bodies can only effectively play their role if they are able to act with complete independence without being subject to any external influence. For that purpose, Member States should take into account a number of criteria that contribute to the independence of equality bodies. Equality bodies should not be set up as part of a ministry or body taking instructions directly from the government. Any staff member or person holding a managerial position – for example as member of a board managing the equality body, head of the equality body, deputy or in case of interim – should be independent, qualified for their position, and selected through a transparent, participatory and competence- based process. Equality bodies should be able to manage their own budget and resources, including by selecting and managing their own staff, and be able to set their own priorities and implement them accordingly.
Amendment 118 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 17
Recital 17
(17) To ensure that equality bodies can exercise all their competences and fulfil all their tasks, Member States should ensure that thethey should determine their internal structure of equality bodiesin a way that allows the independent exercise of their various competences. Particular attention should be paid to situations where bodies are required both to be impartial and to offer support to victims. This is particularly relevant where the equality body holds binding decision- making powers requiring impartiality or is part of a multi-mandate body where another mandate requires impartiality. An internal structure ensuring a strict separation between the relevant competences and tasks should guarantee that the equality body can effectively exercise them.
Amendment 142 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 21
Recital 21
(21) Beyond prevention, a central task of equality bodies is to provide assistance to victims of discrimination. This assistance should always include the provision of key information to complainants and a preliminary assessment of their complaint, based on the initial information gathered from the parties on a voluntary basis. Member States should be in charge of defining the modalities under which the equality body would issue this assessment, such as the timeframe of the process or procedural safeguards against repetitive or abusive complaints, including whether there are grounds to pursue their complaint further or it will be closed.
Amendment 193 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 40
Recital 40
(40) Equality data are crucial for raising awareness, sensitising people, quantifying discrimination, showing trends over time, proving the existence of discrimination, evaluating the implementation of equality legislation, demonstrating the need for positive action, and contributing to evidence-based policymaking75 . Equality bodies have a role to play in contributing to the development of relevant equality data for those purposes, for example by organising regular roundtables gathering all relevant entities. They should also collect and analyse data on their own activities or conduct surveyor commission surveys, research and studies and should be able to access and make use of statistical information collected by other public or private entities – such as the national statistical offices, national courts, labour and education inspectorates, trade unions or civil society organisations - concerning the matters they are entrusted with under Directives 2006/54/EC and 2010/41/EU. That statistical information should not contain any personal data and it should be made available in an accessible format so that it can be readily used by equality bodies. The work of equality bodies on equality data should take into account existing guidance and resources on equality data, including those developed in the framework of the Subgroup on Equality Data of the EU High Level Group on Non-discrimination, Equality and Diversity. _________________ 75 Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on the application of Council Directive 2000/43/EC implementing the principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of racial or ethnic origin (‘the Racial Equality Directive’) and of Council Directive 2000/78/EC establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation (‘the Employment Equality Directive’) SWD(2021) 63 final.
Amendment 231 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 3 – paragraph 1 a (new)
Article 3 – paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Member States shall ensure that equality bodies are not set up within a ministry, a government body or a body taking instructions from the government, that they manage their own budget and resources and that they set their own priorities and implement them accordingly, in order to preserve their nature as independent bodies.
Amendment 234 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 3 – paragraph 2
Article 3 – paragraph 2
2. Member States shall provide for transparent rul, participatory and competence- based rules, processes and safeguards concerning the selection, appointment, revocation and potential conflict of interest of the staff of equality bodies. Those rules, processes and safeguards concern, in particular, persons holding a managerial positions, for example members of boards managing equality bodies, heads of equality bodies, deputy heads of equality bodies or interim heads of equality bodies, where applicable, in order to guarantee their equality bodies’ competences and independence. from external or internal interference.
Amendment 243 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 3 – paragraph 3
Article 3 – paragraph 3
3. Member States shall ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place, in particular in the internal structure of equality bodies, to guarantee the independent exercise of their competences, notably where some require impartiality and others focus on support to victims.
Amendment 245 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 3 – paragraph 4
Article 3 – paragraph 4
4. Member States shall ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place in the internal structure of multi-mandate bodies to guarantee the autonomous exercise of the equalityand effective leadership, promotion, implementation and visibility of the equality mandate. Member States shall also ensure coherence in terms of the competences accorded to these bodies so that they are harmonised and levelled up regarding each mandate.
Amendment 269 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 5 – paragraph 1 – point b
Article 5 – paragraph 1 – point b
(b) ensure that equality bodies have the competences and engage in the prevention of discrimination and in the promotion of equal treatment, and adopt a strategy defining how they will engage in public dialogue, communicate with individuals and groups at risk of discrimination, provide training and guidance, and promote equality duties, equality mainstreaming and positive action among public and private entities as well as support and guidance on their implementation.
Amendment 296 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 6 – paragraph 4 – subparagraph 1
Article 6 – paragraph 4 – subparagraph 1
Amendment 299 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 6 – paragraph 4 – subparagraph 2
Article 6 – paragraph 4 – subparagraph 2
Equality bodies shall inform the complainants of their preliminary assessment and whether it will close their complaint or whether there are grounds to pursue it further, including via the procedures laid down in Articles 7, 8 and 9whether there are grounds to pursue their complaint further or it will be closed.
Amendment 330 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 8 a (new)
Article 8 a (new)
Article8a Opinions and decisions 1. Member States shall ensure that equality bodies are empowered to record in writing their assessment of a case. As part of their written assessment, equality bodies shall establish the facts of the case and provide a reasoned conclusion as to whether discrimination has occurred. Member States shall determine, in consultation with other entities, such as the social partners, whether the equality bodies are to assess cases by means of non-binding opinions or binding enforceable decisions. Member States shall ensure that such decisions can be appealed to a judicial or administrative authority in accordance with national law and practice. 2. Where appropriate, opinions and decisions shall include specific measures to remedy any breach found and to prevent further occurrences. Member States shall establish appropriate mechanisms to follow up on opinions, such as feedback obligations, and to enforce decisions. In the case of binding enforceable decisions, equality bodies shall have the competence to impose effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions. 3. Equality bodies shall publish summaries of their opinions and decisions, without disclosing personal data. Equality bodies may disclose personal data in opinions or decisions, or the summaries thereof, where such disclosure is provided for by law, for example as a penalty in discrimination cases, and provided that the person to whom the personal data relate has been found guilty of discrimination.
Amendment 392 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 14 – paragraph 4
Article 14 – paragraph 4
4. Member States shall allow equality bodies to make recommendations on which data is to be collected in relation to the rights and obligations derived from Directives 2006/54/EC and 2010/41/EU, to public and private entities including public authorities, trade unions, companies and civil society organisations as well as to require feedback from them. Member States shall also allow equality bodies to play a coordination role in the collection of equality data.
Amendment 396 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 14 – paragraph 5
Article 14 – paragraph 5
5. Member States shall ensure that equality bodies may conduct and commission independent surveys, research and studies concerning discrimination.
Amendment 401 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 15 – paragraph 1 – point c a (new)
Article 15 – paragraph 1 – point c a (new)
(ca) develop and track output and impact indicators to assess their progress and conduct an evaluation of their functioning at least every four years.
Amendment 402 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 15 – paragraph 1 – point c b (new)
Article 15 – paragraph 1 – point c b (new)
(cb) establish structures for sustained involvement and contribution of stakeholders, particularly civil society organisations, to the planning and work of the equality body.
Amendment 403 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 16 – paragraph 1
Article 16 – paragraph 1
1. The Commission shall, by means of an implementing act, establish a list of common indicators to measure the practical effects of this Directive, in cooperation with Equinet and making use of Equinet's indicators. When preparing the indicators, the Commission mayshall, where relevant, also seek advice from the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights and the European Institute for Gender Equality. Those indicators shall cover the resources, independent functioning, activities, accessibility and effectiveness of equality bodies, as well as evolutions in their mandate, powers or structure, including the particularities of multi-mandate bodies and multi-function equality bodies with decision-making functions, ensuring the comparability, objectivity and reliability of the data collected at national level.
Amendment 409 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 16 – paragraph 2
Article 16 – paragraph 2
2. By [53 years after the date of transposition], and every 5 years thereafter, Member States shall provide the Commission with all relevant information regarding the application of this Directive, including data on its practical effects collected on the basis of the indicators referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article, and in particular taking into account the reports drawn up by the equality bodies under Article 14, points (b) and (c). These reports will also inform the Commission's report on the application and practical effects of the Directive under Article 16, (3).
Amendment 417 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 16 – paragraph 3
Article 16 – paragraph 3
3. The Commission shall draw up a report on the application and practical effects of this Directive, based on the information referred to in paragraph 2 and additional relevant data collected at national and Union level, in particular from equality bodies, Equinet and other stakeholders, by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights and the European Institute for Gender Equality.