BNS: EC accuses Lithuania of violation of gender equality rules at work
Updated 2008-11-27
VILNIUS, Nov 27, BNS - The European Commission has taken action against six countries including Lithuania to ensure the application of EU legislation rohibiting discrimination in employment and occupation on the grounds of sex.
The EC mission in Lithuania said that the Commission had sent reasoned opinions to six countries to fully implement EU rules prohibiting discrimination in employment and occupation on the grounds of sex. Austria, Lithuania, Slovenia, Hungary, Italy and Malta have two months to respond. If they fail to reply or if the response is unsatisfactory, the Commission can decide to take them to the European Court of Justice.
"This directive is crucial to tackling gender discrimination, an important goal of the European Union. It was agreed unanimously by the Member States and adopted in 2002, but EU directives cannot reach their full potential if they are not fully and correctly transposed into national laws," EU Commissioner for Equal Opportunities Vladimir Spidla said in the press release.
Dispatch of reasoned opinions is the second step of the infringement procedure. Similar reasoned opinions were sent to Finland and Estonia in June 2008.
The analysis is still ongoing for other member-states.
