Equal opportunities in the spotlight in 2007

In June 2006, preparations began for an important year for Europe, following the decision by the European Council and Parliament to designate 2007 as 'European year of equal opportunities for all'. The aim is to promote equal opportunities in all spheres, with work and workplace relations being a key focus of the initiative. The social partners will play an important role in this regard and there will be funding available to promote locally-based activities. The 2007 European year of equal opportunities will focus on discrimination linked to gender, race or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation.

In January 2007, a conference to be held under the aegis of the German EU presidency will formally initiate 2007 as the ‘European year of equal opportunities for all’. Already preparations for the initiative have begun, including the launch of a dedicated website to advise and support local and regional organisations in their work towards adopting the goals of the new initiative.

The aims of the initiative are to make all Europeans aware of their right not to be discriminated against and to promote equal opportunities in work as well as in other areas of life, by showing how diversity can strengthen the EU.

The announcement follows a comprehensive programme of legislative reform in recent years aimed at eradicating discrimination in the EU. This includes Council Directive 2000/43/EC of 29 June 2000, which implements the principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of racial or ethnic origin, and the Employment Equality Directive 2000/78/EC.

In welcoming the decision to declare a year of equal opportunities for all, EU Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, Vladimír Špidla commented: ‘For a whole year, we will be putting the spotlight on equal opportunities and the benefits for Europe of a diverse society. Too many talents in Europe are poorly utilised and we cannot afford to lose them’.

Key themes

The year of equal opportunities will revolve around four key themes, namely:

• rights – raising awareness of the right to equality and non-discrimination and of the problem of multiple discrimination;

• representation – stimulating debate on ways to increase the participation of groups in society that are victims of discrimination and to achieve a balanced participation of men and women;

• recognition – facilitating and celebrating diversity and equality;

• respect – promoting a more cohesive society.

These are key concepts of industrial relations at the workplace and the social partners will be responsible for translating these themes into workplace practices. A particular focus will be on raising awareness of the right to equality and the social partners will play an important part in this regard.

Moreover, the aim is to promote and attach value to diversity, emphasising that being equal does not mean being identical. The initiative should encourage the social partners to consider the development of joint communiqués and agreements, such as the one concluded by the social partners within the live performance sector in 2005, with a joint declaration on cultural diversity (EU0512207F).

In its Communication on Working together for growth and jobs – a new start for the Lisbon strategy (COM (2005) 24 ), the Commission underlined that ‘renewed growth is vital to prosperity, can bring back full employment and is the foundation of social justice and opportunity for all’. However, the Commission acknowledged that achieving these objectives is difficult if large groups of populations within the EU are excluded from jobs, training and opportunities. It was this imperative that led to the proposal for a year of equality.

Funding for equality

The 2007 European year of equal opportunities will focus on discrimination linked to gender, race or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation. A total budget of €15 million will be made available for the 12 months of activities. Part of this budget will be spent on new Eurobarometer surveys on discrimination and attitudes towards it, while half of the total budget has been allocated to a series of national activities in Member States.

Many of these activities will be coordinated at national rather than European level to ensure that they take place as locally as possible; such activities will be co-financed from national public and private sources. During the summer of 2006, national bodies will begin designating their strategies and drawing up a timetable for their implementation in order to be in a position to apply for national funding by this autumn.

Funding may be available to the social partners to organise conferences on equal opportunities where the dissemination of relevant material, such as publications, could be promoted.

Sonia McKay, AWWW GmbH