Brussels, 05/07/2007 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday, the European Commission launched an online consultation on the fight against discrimination in member sates and at the level of the EU. The public consultation will help the Commission plan new measures to tackle discrimination on the basis of gender, religion, belief, disability, age or sexual orientation in areas beyond the job market. It is made up of a general online consultation, as well as a consultation targeted at business. It will be accessible at the following address from 4 July to 15 October 2007: http: //ec.europa.eu/yourvoice/consultations/index_en.htm.
The Commission has announced that, in 2008, it will put forward new initiatives to prevent and combat discrimination outside the labour market. Commission initiatives have to be accompanied by an impact assessment, which analyses the pros and cons of the various options available, a Commission press release points out, adding that the results of the public consultation will feed into this process. (gb)