EU Scolds Germany Over Discrimination Law

On Thursday, the European Union's top court in Luxembourg found Germany guilty of failing to fully implement EU guidelines aimed at fighting discrimination. The EU directive, which bans discrimination on the basis of race or ethnic origin, was supposed to become a part of national law by July 19, 2003. Germany, however, has yet to adopt the rules since draft legislation formulated by the federal government is still being discussed in parliament. "Member states have now had five years to put this EU law into their national legislation. I urge Germany to move quickly to meet their obligations in this area, which is vital for the protection of fundamental rights," said Vladimir Spidla, the EU's social affairs and employment commissioner, in a statement. If Germany does not conform to the ruling by the European Court of Justice, the European Commission could impose fines on Berlin. The EU directive bans direct and indirect discrimination in areas such as employment, education and social security and housing. According to Germany's justice ministry, the draft legislation now under discussion conforms exactly to EU guidelines in the area of labor law, but goes further than EU requirements in the area of civil law, prohibiting discrimination based on disability, religion or sexual orientation. A vote in the Bundestag on the draft law is planned before the summer break.