Joint NGO statement to Vice-President Timmermans
Ahead of a round-table discussion on 9 January with European Commission First Vice-President Frans Timmermans, several NGOs* including Social Platform delivered a joint statement on ‘Strengthening equality and fundamental rights protection in the EU’. In the letter, the NGOs urge Mr Timmermans to use his leading position to advance equality for all and promote a holistic vision of equality grounded in a universal human rights based approach.
‘Over the past few weeks, several Member States lifted their outstanding reservations to the adoption of the EU Equal Treatment Directive. It is time to put pressure on those countries that still do not support the Directive. Vice-president Timmermans must present this as a priority issue during all meetings with Member States representatives, including at high political level. The Commission should combine a message of human rights approach with a pragmatic one: existing barriers to accessing goods and services prevent EU residents from contributing to Europe’s growth recovery as users, consumers and volunteers and create obstacles for businesses and service providers to benefit from a large internal market covering more 500 million consumers. We urge the Commission to take a leadership role and keep pushing for a strong anti-discrimination Directive with a broad scope of application, and not for a reinforced cooperation approach which could weaken protection, increase market fragmentation and set a precedent of cherry picking when it comes to fundamental rights.’
*NGOs include AGE Platform Europe; European Disability Forum; European Network Against Racism; European Youth Forum; ILGA-Europe; European Women’s Lobby; IGLYO; European Network on Religion and Belief).
