EN Official Journal of the European Union L 182/30

DECISION OF THE EEA JOINT COMMITTEE

No 33/2008

of 14 March 2008

amending Annex XVIII (Health and safety at work, labour law, and equal treatment for men and women) to the EEA Agreement

THE EEA JOINT COMMITTEE,

Having regard to the Agreement on the European Economic Area, as amended by the Protocol adjusting the Agreement on the European Economic Area, hereinafter referred to as ‘the Agreement’, and in particular Article 98 thereof,

Whereas:

(1) Annex XVIII to the Agreement was amended by Decision of the EEA Joint Committee No 132/2007 of 26 October 2007 (1).

(2) Directive 2006/54/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 July 2006 on the implementation of the principle of equal opportunities and equal treatment of men and women in matters of employment and occupation (recast) (2) is to be incorporated into the Agreement.

(3) Directive 2006/54/EC repeals, with effect from 15 August 2009, Council Directives 75/117/EEC (3), 76/207/EEC (4), 86/378/EEC (5) and 97/80/EC (6), which are incorporated into the Agreement and which are consequently to be repealed under the Agreement with effect from 15 August 2009,

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

Annex XVIII to the Agreement shall be amended as follows:

1) The following point shall be inserted after point 21a (Council Directive 97/80/EC): ‘21b. 32006 L 0054: Directive 2006/54/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 July 2006 on the implementation of the principle of equal opportunities and equal treatment of men and women in matters of employment and occupation (recast) (OJ L 204, 26.7.2006, p. 23). The provisions of the Directive shall, for the purposes of this Agreement, be read with the following adaptations: (a) The text of Article 3 shall be replaced by the following: “With a view to ensuring full equality in practice between men and women in working life, the principle of equal treatment shall not prevent any Member State from maintaining or adopting measures providing for specific advantages in order to make it easier for the underrepresented sex to pursue a vocational activity or to prevent or compensate for disadvantages in professional careers”. (b) The following paragraph shall be added in Article 12: “5. For Iceland and Norway the date of 17 May 1990 in the first sentence of paragraph 1 shall be replaced by 1 January 1994 and for Liechtenstein it shall be replaced by 1 May 1995.” (c) In Article 19(4)(a), the words “Article 141 of the Treaty” shall be replaced by the words “Article 69 of the EEA Agreement”.’

2. The text of points 17 (Council Directive 75/117/EEC), 18 (Council Directive 76/207/EEC), 20 (Council Directive 86/378/EEC) and 21a (Council Directive 97/80/EC) shall be deleted with effect from 15 August 2009.

Article 2

The texts of Directive 2006/54/EC in the Icelandic and Norwegian languages, to be published in the EEA Supplement to the Official Journal of the European Union, shall be authentic.

Article 3

This Decision shall enter into force on 15 March 2008, provided that all the notifications under Article 103(1) of the Agreement have been made to the EEA Joint Committee (7).

Article 4

This Decision shall be published in the EEA Section of, and in the EEA Supplement to, the Official Journal of the European Union.

Done at Brussels, 14 March 2008. For the EEA Joint Committee The President Alan SEATTER

(1) OJ L 100, 10.4.2008, p. 1.

(2) OJ L 204, 26.7.2006, p. 23.

(3) OJ L 45, 19.2.1975, p. 19.

(4) OJ L 39, 14.2.1976, p. 40.

(5) OJ L 225, 12.8.1986, p. 40.

(6) OJ L 14, 20.1.1998, p. 6.

(7) Constitutional requirements indicated.