European Commission closes two legal cases against Czech Republic on equality legislation
20/05/2010

Summary

The European Commission closed infringement proceedings against the Czech Republic on 4 May 2010, following the successful adoption of a comprehensive Anti-discrimination Act to comply with EU equality rules

Description

In June 2007, the Commission pointed out, in its reasoned opinion, that the Czech Republic:

• Did not adequately define all forms of discrimination addressed by the Race Equality Directive 2000/43/EC
  
• Did not cover several fields sufficiently
  
• Did not apply the rule regarding burden of proof in some areas
  
• Provided protection against victimization for employees only
  
• Did not designate a body for the promotion and protection of equality as required by the Directive.

As for the Employment Equality Directive 2000/78/EC, the Commission stressed that adequate definition regarding the various types of discrimination was lacking in Czech legislation and that the material scope regarding the prohibition of discrimination was narrower than that provided for by the Directives.

In particular, the Czech Republic did not prohibit discrimination on the ground of disability but on the grounds of state of health, which does not cover all disabled workers. Also, recruitment of customs officials was subject to discriminatory rules related to sexual orientation.

Further reading

The Thematic Report, Disability and non-discrimination law in the European Union, drafted by the Network of independent legal experts in the non-discrimination field addresses the definition of disability within the scope of Directive 2000/78/EC and how this is transposed in some member states.

To download the report, click here.