4.

Calls on the Commission, Member States and relevant agencies to work jointly on a comprehensive multiannual policy to protect the fundamental rights of LGBTI people, i.e. a roadmap, a strategy or an action plan featuring the themes and objectives hereunder; A. Horizontal actions to implement the Roadmap (i) The Commission should work to secure existing rights throughout its work and across all domains in which it is competent by mainstreaming issues linked to the fundamental rights of LGBTI people in all relevant work — for instance when drafting future policies and proposals or monitoring the implementation of EU law; (ii) The Commission should facilitate, coordinate and monitor the exchange of good practice among Member States via the open method of coordination; (iii) Relevant European Union agencies, including the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE), the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound), the European Police College (CEPOL), the European Union’s Judicial Cooperation Unit (Eurojust), the European Judicial Network (EJN) and the European Asylum Support Office (EASO), should mainstream issues related to sexual orientation and gender identity in their work, and continue to provide the Commission and Member States with evidence-based advice on the fundamental rights of LGBTI people; (iv) The Commission and Member States should be encouraged to regularly collect relevant and comparable data on the situation of LGBTI persons in the EU together with relevant agencies and Eurostat, while fully respecting EU data protection rules; (v) Together with relevant agencies, the Commission and Member States should encourage training and capacity-building for national equality bodies, national human rights institutions and other organisations tasked with the promotion and protection of the fundamental rights of LGBTI persons; (vi) Together with relevant agencies, the Commission and Member States should seek to make citizens aware of the rights of LGBTI persons; B. General provisions in the field of non-discrimination (i) Member States should consolidate the existing EU legal framework by working to adopt the proposed directive on implementing the principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation, including by clarifying the scope and associated costs of its provisions; (ii) The Commission, Member States and relevant agencies should pay particular attention to lesbian women’s experience of multiple discrimination and violence (both on grounds of sex and sexual orientation), and design and implement non-discrimination policies accordingly; C. Non-discrimination in employment (i) The Commission should include a specific focus on sexual orientation when monitoring the implementation of Directive 2000/78/EC establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation (7), and on gender identity when monitoring the implementation of Directive 2006/54/EC on the implementation of the principle of equal opportunities and equal treatment of men and women in matters of employment and occupation (8); (ii) Together with the relevant agencies, the Commission should issue guidelines specifying that transgender and intersex persons are covered under ‘sex’ in Directive 2006/54/EC on the implementation of the principle of equal opportunities and equal treatment of men and women in matters of employment and occupation; (iii) Equality bodies should be encouraged to inform LGBTI persons, as well as trade unions and employer organisations, about their rights; D. Non-discrimination in education (i) The Commission should promote equality and non-discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity throughout its youth and education programmes; (ii) The Commission should facilitate the sharing of good practice in formal education, including teaching materials, anti-bullying and anti-discrimination policies, among Member States through the non-binding open method of coordination; (iii) The Commission should facilitate the sharing of good practice throughout Member States’ youth and education sectors, including youth welfare services and social work, among Member States through the non-binding open method of coordination; E. Non-discrimination in health (i) The Commission should place LGBTI health concerns within relevant wider strategic health policies, including access to health care, equality in health, and the EU’s global voice in health-related matters; (ii) The Commission should continue working within the World Health Organisation to withdraw gender identity disorders from the list of mental and behavioural disorders and to ensure a non-pathologising reclassification in the negotiations on the 11th version of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11); (iii) The Commission should support Member States in the training of health professionals; (iv) The Commission and Member States should undertake research on health issues specific to LGBTI persons; (v) Member States should take account of LGBTI people within national health plans and policies, ensuring that training curricula, health policies and health surveys take specific LGBTI health issues into account; (vi) Member States should introduce or review legal gender recognition procedures so they fully respect transgender people’s right to dignity and bodily integrity; F. Non-discrimination in goods and services (i) The Commission should include a specific focus on access to goods and services by transgender persons when monitoring the implementation of Directive 2004/113/EC implementing the principle of equal treatment between men and women in the access to and supply of goods and services (9); G. Action specific to transgender and intersex persons (i) The Commission should ensure gender identity is included among prohibited grounds of discrimination in any future equality legislation, including any recasts; (ii) The Commission should mainstream issues specific to transgender and intersex people throughout the relevant EU policies, mirroring the approach adopted in the Gender Equality Strategy; (iii) Member States should ensure equality bodies are informed and trained about the rights of, and specific issues pertaining to, transgender and intersex people; (iv) The Commission, Member States and relevant agencies should address the current lack of knowledge, research and relevant legislation on the human rights of intersex people; H. Citizenship, families and freedom of movement (i) The Commission should produce guidelines to ensure that Directive 2004/38/EC on the right of citizens of the Union and their family members to move and reside freely within the territory of the Member States (10), and Directive 2003/86/EC on the right to family reunification (11), are implemented so as to ensure respect for all forms of families legally recognised under Member States’ national laws; (ii) The Commission should make proposals for the mutual recognition of the effects of all civil status documents across the EU, in order to reduce discriminatory legal and administrative barriers for citizens and their families who exercise their right to free movement; (iii) The Commission and Member States should study whether restrictions in place for the change of civil status and identity documents for transgender people harm their ability to enjoy their right to free movement; (iv) Member States which have adopted legislation on cohabitation, registered partnerships or marriage for same-sex couples should recognise similar provisions adopted by other Member States; I. Freedom of assembly and expression (i) Member States should ensure that rights to freedom of expression and assembly are guaranteed, particularly with regard to pride marches and similar events, by ensuring these events take place lawfully and by guaranteeing the effective protection of participants; (ii) Member States should refrain from adopting laws and reconsider existing laws which restrict freedom of expression in relation to sexual orientation and gender identity; (iii) The Commission and the Council of the European Union should consider that Member States adopting laws to restrict freedom of expression in relation to sexual orientation and gender identity breach the values on which the European Union is founded, and react accordingly; J. Hate speech and hate crime (i) The Commission should monitor and provide assistance to the Member States with regard to issues specific to sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression when implementing Directive 2012/29/EU establishing minimum standards on the rights, support and protection of victims of crime (12), in particular when crimes are committed with a bias or discriminatory motive which could be related to the personal characteristics of the victims; (ii) The Commission should propose a recast of the Council Framework Decision on combating certain forms and expressions of racism and xenophobia by means of criminal law including other forms of bias crime and incitement to hatred, including on grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity; (iii) Together with relevant agencies, the Commission should facilitate the exchange of good practice among Member States pertaining to the training and education of police forces, prosecution services, judges and victim support services; (iv) The Fundamental Rights Agency should assist Member States in improving their collection of comparable data about homophobic and transphobic hate crime; (v) Member States should register and investigate hate crimes against LGBTI people, and adopt criminal legislation prohibiting incitement to hatred on grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity; K. Asylum (i) Together with the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) and relevant agencies, and within the remit of existing EU legislation and jurisprudence, the Commission should include specific issues linked to sexual orientation and gender identity in the implementation and monitoring of asylum legislation, including Directive 2013/32/EU on common procedures for granting and withdrawing international protection (13), and Directive 2011/95/EU on standards for the qualification of third-country nationals or stateless persons as beneficiaries of international protection (14); (ii) Together with relevant agencies, the Commission and Member States should ensure that asylum professionals, including interviewers and interpreters, receive adequate training — including existing training — to handle issues relating specifically to LGBTI persons; (iii) Together with the EASO and in cooperation with the European External Action Service, the Commission and Member States should ensure that the legal and social situation of LGBTI persons in countries of origin is documented systematically and that such information is made available to asylum decision-makers as part of Country of Origin Information (COI); L. Enlargement and external action (i) The Commission should continue its current monitoring of issues linked to sexual orientation and gender identity in accession countries; (ii) The Commission, the European External Action Service, the EU Special Representative for Human Rights and Member States should systematically use the Council Guidelines to promote and protect the enjoyment of all human rights by LGBTI persons, and maintain a unified position when responding to violations of these rights; (iii) The Commission and the European External Action Service should provide information obtained from EU delegations on the situation of LGBTI persons in third countries to the European Asylum Support Office and Member States;