A proposed EU anti-discrimination directive, aimed at outlawing any discrimination based on sex, religion or sexual orientation outside the workplace could have implications for Church property. The new proposal, presented today by the Commission, but informally announced last month, comes just months after a letter was sent from the Commission to the Irish Government saying that exemptions in Ireland for religious run institutions under current equality legislation were “too broad”.
The Commission withdrew its letter, after the Government signalled its “vigorous opposition” to the Commission's threatened legal action.
However, legislation similar to the Commission's latest proposal has led to religious organisations being deprived of tax exemptions because of a refusal to allow Church property to be used for gay marriages or civil union ceremonies.
The US state of New Jersey stripped a Methodist group, the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association, of its tax-exempt status for part of its property, because it refused, for religious reasons, to allow a lesbian couple to hold a "civil-union" ceremony at a pavilion on the camp's property.
Commenting on the proposal, the designated Commissioner for Justice and Home Affairs Jacques Barrot said Employment Commissioner Vladimir Špidla would present a cross-cutting directive to outlaw discrimination on the grounds of sex, race, ethnicity, religion, disability, age or sexual orientation.
"All discrimination is serious, and deserves to be fought with the same determination," Barrot said, pointing out that the directive will also address homophobia and will not be restricted to the workplace.
He urged MEPs to support the initiative, as they have repeatedly reminded Commission President José Manuel Barroso of his pledge to make anti-discrimination a priority this year.
The new commitment to covering discrimination beyond the workplace represents a U-turn for the Commission, as in April it signalled its intention to backtrack on its initial ambition to present a complex 'horizontal directive' due to resistance from conservative member states.
It had instead proposed to offer protection against discrimination only on disability grounds. To become law throughout the EU, the directive would first require approval by the Council.
The vice-president of Parliament's Employment Committee, British Liberal MEP Liz Lynne, who initiated the recent Parliament report, welcomed the Commission's proposal, saying non-discrimination and equal treatment are principles that lie at the heart of the EU.
In February, the Commission sent a letter to the Irish Government saying that Irish legislation, implementing an EU equality directive, contained exemptions for religious-run institutions, such as schools and hospitals, which were "too broad". The exemptions allow such institutions to refrain from hiring individuals who would impinge on the ethos of those institutions.
The letter was a prelude to legal action by the Commission, who signalled that they were prepared to take the case to the European Court of Justice (ECJ). If the ECJ had found in favour of the Commission's interpretation, they could have imposed a fine on Ireland until the Government removed the relevant legislation. In the event, the Commission withdrew the letter.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to either myself or to the blogspot ‘Clerical Whispers’ for any or all of the articles placed here.
The placing of an article hereupon does not necessarily imply that I agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.
Sotto Voce