EU Constitution would improve equal treatment

The organizations, responsible for this fact sheet, want to bring the principle of equal treatment into the debate about the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe.

The fact sheet describes the role which equal treatment and the fight against discrimination play in the treaties that at this moment form the basis of the European Union.

The text limits itself to the grounds of sex, race, ethnicity, disability, age and sexual orientation. These are the grounds of discrimination in which the participating organizations are active. Furthermore, these are the grounds that are mentioned in article 13 of the Treaty Establishing the European Community, the EC-Treaty. Article 13 was of importance in the drafting of policy and legislation offering protection to victims of discrimination in Europe.

The text was composed by Dick Houtzager, legal policy adviser to the LBR (now Art.1), under the responsibility of the 'Platform Artikel 13'.

In the 'Platform Artikel 13', five Dutch organisations work together on issues relating to equal treatment in a European context. The name is derived from the non-discrimination provision in the EC-Treaty, Article 13. The Platform comprises of members of the Chronically Ill and Disabled council (Chronish Zieken en Gehandicapten Raad), E-Quality (Kenniscentrum op het gebied van emancipatie in de multiculturele samenleving), Expertise centre for lesbian and gay emancipation policy (Kenniscentrum lesbisch en homo-emancipatiebeleid), expertise centre for age and society (Expertisecentrum leeftijd en maatschappij) and the National Bureau against Racial Discrimination (LBR, now Art.1, the national association against all forms of discrimination).

The fact sheet can be downloaded via the link below this document.