Brussels, 19/02/2004 (Agence Europe) - The draft directive on equality between men and women in the services and goods sector continues to draw comment. The proposal put by Commissioner Diamantopoulou aims to abolish all discrimination based on gender in acceding or providing goods and services (see EUROPE of 6 November, p.11). At the time, it had raised considerable criticism from the European Committee on Insurance and the European Women's Lobby for opposite reasons (see EUROPE of 11 November, p.17). The European trade unions have also shown themselves to be sceptical, considering that the scope of the proposal was more limited that that of the directive on race equality, adopted under Article 13 of the Treaty.
Restating its regret in a press release regarding the limited scope of the proposal, the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) nonetheless considers that this is a "positive step toward achieving equality between men and women in Europe". Consequently, ETUC gives its broad support to proposals in these fields and above all to the ban on using gender as a factor for calculating insurance premiums and payments and other financial services. It adds that the ban on unequal treatment between men and women in this field is a real political choice that women, as citizens and consumers, expect from European governments. This is why ETUC recommends with insistence that the draft directive should be speedily adopted.