It wasn’t supposed to be like this. In 2008, the European Commission presented a proposal for directive to address discrimination based on age, disability, sexual orientation, on religion or belief (the so-called Equal Treatment Directive). The draft directive has been blocked by national governments in the Council of Ministers ever since.

Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) and distinguished experts debated the potential adoption of the anti-discrimination directive in Brussels on April 22, 2015. The panel considered what European Commissioner, Věra Jourová, and DG JUST, must do to progress towards final adoption of the Equal Treatment Directive.

The live radio and web streamed debate from the European Parliament in Brussels considered all the main obstacles for the directive. Do the Member States have the political will to unblock and adopt the document, in a commonly agreed shape? How can the main Directive provisions of discrimination: age, sexual orientation, disability, religion/belief, be balanced?

Currently, EU citizens are protected by the Racial Equality Directive, which prohibits discrimination in employment, access to goods and services, social security and education but only on the ground of racial or ethnic origin. Is this directive enough if the Equal Treatment Directive will remain blocked or will do too slow progresses?

The bilingual debate was jointly produced by Euranet Plus and Sky Media, Estonia. It was moderated by Sky Media’s journalist Liis Amor (in Estonian) and Brian Maguire of the Euranet Plus News Agency in Brussels (in English). The debate also featured students of the Euranet Plus campus radio network.

The debate was broadcast live at the top of this web page and can be viewed on-demand in two parts on YouTube, one for each language on our YouTube channel.

Wednesday, April 22, 2015, starting at 12:30 CEST

European Parliament Voxbox, Altiero Spinelli Building, Brussels

Part 1 | Estonian | 12:30 – 13:15 CEST | moderator Liis Amor | guests:

Part 2 | English | 13:15 – 14:00 CEST | moderator Brian Maguire | guests:

Ahead of the debate, we posted regular audios and features on our social media channels to bring the topic closer to our guests, fans and listeners. During the debate our fans were invited to post their questions for our guests and moderators.

Facebook (join the Facebook event for the debate and leave your questions and comments about the debate)

Google+ (join the Google+ event for the debate)

Twitter (use the hashtag #CitizensCorner)

Use the comment section at the bottom of this page

High-resolution press photos with Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike on Flickr

Background on Equal Treatment Directive

The main argument against the draft Directive was that national standards would be undermined by weaker EU rules.

At the end of October 2014, the Italian EU Presidency organised the first high-level conference on the subject, discussing the possibilities for initiating another round of negotiations on the directive. Speaking at that conference, the former Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship, Martine Reicherts, called for the six-year stalemate to be broken.

Reicherts suggested the adoption of the equality law through enhanced cooperation as opposed to unanimity, which is now required in the Council. “We need to change the mentality,” she said, “and tell people that gender and sexual orientation cannot be a reason for discrimination.” Stefano Sannino, the Italian Ambassador to the EU, added that: “Everybody should be free to choose what he or she wants to be.”

When the new European Commission took office on November 1, 2014, the baton was passed to Věra Jourová, Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality to either propose new ways to adopt the directive, or to repeal it altogether.

Speaking following the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council on December 12, 2014, Commissioner Jourová said: “The fight against discrimination is a key priority for the Juncker Commission and it is my mission to unblock the negotiations on the Equal Treatment Directive.”

“We already have EU legislation prohibiting discrimination on the grounds of nationality, sex and race. However, protection from discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief, disability, age and sexual orientation is limited to the employment field. We should build on this momentum to further progress in the coming months.”

She then met representatives of several non-governmental organisations on February 16 to discuss the Equal Treatment Directive.

About the Citizens’ Corner debates

With the aim of getting as close as possible to the concerns of EU citizens and inspired by the “The 2010 EU Citizenship Report,” the “25 Key Actions to Improve Citizens’ Lives,” “The EU Citizenship Report 2013” and the 12 new actions in six key areas put forward by the European Commission to further remove obstacles standing in the way of citizens’ enjoyment of their EU rights, Euranet Plus organizes monthly debates under the heading of Citizens’ Corner.

The aim is to provide information on the rights enjoyed by EU citizens, and also to reveal gaps which may remain between the applicable rules and regulations and the reality of citizens’ daily lives, particularly in cross-border situations. The debates provide the opportunity for open dialogue, contributing to new insights between all those involved.

About the Euranet Plus network of radios, the leading radio network for EU news

The most powerful radio network in Europe, Euranet Plus is a pan-European network of 15 leading radio stations – public and private – across the European Union. Euranet Plus reaches over 20 million listeners daily with its EU related content.

Producing and broadcasting in 14 official EU languages through its international, national and regional radio stations in 15 EU states, euranetplus broadcasts more than 1,300 hours of high quality EU related content on a yearly basis.

Offering high-quality EU news coverage, euranetplus programmes are specifically targeted towards member radios’ audiences, making the best use of the strength of the network of professional radio operators Europe-wide.

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The Euranet Plus network operates its own news agency in Brussels, providing network members with high-quality, up-to-date information from the heart of the European Union. Pooling EU related information and media content, the Euranet Plus News Agency (EPNA) offers insightful content from Brussels and Strasbourg as well as from its radio members all over Europe. The network enriches the editorial coverage of EU affairs with truly transnational viewpoints, going well beyond national borders. Euranet Plus operates with full editorial independence.

Understanding Europe

More than ever, the European Union has influence on the daily lives of European citizens. However, there is an evident lack of information on EU affairs. The Euranet Plus objective is to strengthen EU citizens’ awareness and understanding of EU affairs by better informing them and by stimulating exchange of opinions and debate.

Euranet Plus aims to bridge the information gap between the EU and citizens, thereby promoting better mutual understanding in Europe.