MINELRES: Fwd: EC to Grill Czech Republic over Delayed Anti-Discrimination Law

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EC TO GRILL CZECH REPUBLIC OVER DELAYED ANTI-DISCRIMINATION LAW

2/10/2008 - The European Commission will soon file a complaint against
the Czech Republic because the country has not incorporated the EC
anti-discrimination directive into its legislation, Czech Labour and
Social Affairs Minister Petr Necas told CTK Thursday. Necas discussed on
Thursday discrimination against minorities with his EU counterparts in
Luxembourg. Necas said the EC will definitely file the complaint in a
"relatively short time," or by the end of October at the latest,
according to the information he received. He said the complaint would be
no surprise for Prague. "It was just a question of time when it would be
filed," Necas said. The anti-discrimination bill aims to ensure equal
access to education, work, health care and social advantages, for
instance, irrespective of age, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation,
health handicap, sex, religion and world outlook. The Czech Republic
should have had the law already when it joined the EU in 2004. It is the
last EU member country not to have it as yet. 
 
Czech parliament passed an anti-discrimination bill, but President
Vaclav Klaus vetoed it. The lower house is to take a repeat vote on the
bill after the regional and Senate elections to be held in late October.
It may not be pushed through because of the disunity of the government
coalition. The European Court of Justice may impose a high fine on the
Czech Republic if it does not pass the bill.

� The Prague Daily Monitor http://www.praguemonitor.com


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