Brussels, 04/06/2010 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 3 June, the European Commission took a stance on three cases, two of which pertain to equal treatment in the employment field (Belgium and Slovakia) and the other to equal pay (Italy). Thus:
(1) The Commission decided to close the case against Belgium for failing to communicate national measures to implement European Union rules against gender discrimination in employment (Directive 2006/54/EC - recast). The proceedings had been opened in September 2009 because the authorities had failed to communicate the transposition of EU legislation in the German-speaking community. In reply to the Commission's reasoned opinion sent in March 2010, Belgium put the matter right, thus allowing the Commission to close the case against it.
(2) The Commission took further legal action against Italy to bring it into line with the EU Court of Justice ruling of 13 November 2008 (Case C-46/07) whereby different pensionable ages for male and female civil servants violates the principle of equal pay. Following infringement procedure brought by the Commission, Italy introduced new rules to comply with the Court's ruling. In a complementary letter of formal notice under Article 160§1 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) and adopted on Thursday, the Commission maintains that provisions taken by Italy - under which retirement age for female employees would increase gradually and only be equalised at the same age as men in 2018 - are inadequate and that discriminatory treatment continues.
(3) The Commission sent a reasoned opinion to Slovakia after it incorrectly implemented EU rules against gender discrimination in employment, vocational training, promotion and working conditions (Directive 2002/73/EC) into national legislation. The final date for transposing the directive into national law was 5 October 2005. (G.B./transl.jl)