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In February 2004, the French government announced that it is preparing to establish a single Equality Authority to combat discrimination in all areas and champion equality. The creation of such a body was proposed in a recent report by the State Ombudsman.
In a report submitted to the Prime Minister on 16 February 2004, and after a review highlighting the dispersal of, and restrictions inherent in, the administrative structures in the field of anti-discrimination policy, the State Ombudsman (Médiateur de la République), Bernard Stasi, advocated the creation of a single independent administrative body in the form of an Equality Authority, or 'High Authority against discrimination and for equality' (Haute autorité contre les discriminations et pour l’égalité), like those set up in some other EU countries. The report backs the establishment of this authority by legislation so that political will can be formalised, and to 'send out institutional shock waves' in the field of anti-discrimination policy.
The new body would address discrimination based on the grounds of ethnicity, religious affiliation, gender, convictions, disability, age, health and sexual orientation, and would be granted significant powers of intervention and operational funding. It would have many roles: dealing with individual claims; acting as a contact point for victims of discrimination; playing an advisory role; taking cases to court; helping victims to mount cases; implementing pro-equality promotional programmes; and conducting research in order to understand the phenomena of discrimination, by carrying out statistical monitoring, drawing together existing research and running seminars. The funding for setting up the body should be commensurate with the scope of its planned roles.
In a statement made at a cabinet meeting on 18 February, the President of the Republic declared that he wished to see a bill before parliament in spring 2004, which would enable the Equality Authority to be established before the year’s end.
The announcement of the creation of such a body has been welcomed by not-for-profit organisations working in the area, but the government’s willingness to merge all the forms of discrimination and the existing ad hoc structures may well cause a stir in the voluntary sector and in research circles, due to fears that their own specific causes will be diluted and eventually lose their particular characteristics.