Brussels, 05/10/2004 (Agence Europe) - The effort made by Aart Jan De Geus on Monday in Luxembourg to reach a political agreement on the proposal for a directive on equal treatment between men and women outside the workplace will have paid off. At the end of the day, 24 ministers of the enlarged EU spoke out in favour of the proposal for a directive. Only Germany abstained, hoping to safeguard the foundations of its Constitution. Germany then expressed the hope that, by the next Employment/Social Council in December, abstention could be transformed into a political will to vote in favour of the directive. This would allow unanimity to be attained during the December Council and would therefore make it possible to proceed to formal adoption of the proposal of directive. The opinion of the European Parliament is now awaited (simple consultation procedure).
At the close of work, Aart Jan De Geus recalled that the basic principle underpinning the directive is to ensure insurance firms treat men and women in the same way when it comes to premiums and benefits. The Council president recalled the long debate begun with Germany on the question of whether and to what extent private contracts between individuals should be covered by the directive (for details, see EUROPE of 5 October, p.13). "I am very pleased. This is the first decision by this 25-member Council formation", Aart Jan De Geus said. President De Geus went on to add "this is an important step in European legislation on equal treatment". He hoped that Germany would lift its abstention in the very near future.