WRITTEN QUESTION E-2306/03 by Philip Claeys (NI) to the Commission. For Diversity, Against Discrimination campaign — indirect discrimination.
Date: 2003-07-14
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: business policy, equal treatment, job access, job description, job vacancy, linguistic discrimination, recruitment

6.2.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 33 E/247

(2004/C 33 E/254)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2306/03

by Philip Claeys (NI) to the Commission

(14 July 2003)

Subject:

‘For Diversity, Against Discrimination’ campaign (cid:1) indirect discrimination

On 16 June 2003, Mrs Diamantopoulou, Member of the Commission, launched her ‘For Diversity, Against
Discrimination’ campaign. One of the aspects of discrimination referred to on the campaign website is
what is known as indirect discrimination. The following instance is quoted: An example of indirect
discrimination is requiring all people who apply for a certain job to pass a test in a specific language, even
though knowledge of that language is not necessary for the job. This test might exclude more people
whose first language is not the language tested.

That concerns a problem which, to date, has indeed been neglected. Quite a number of undertakings and
organisations active on the margins of the European institutions in Brussels apply language criteria to job
applicants which discriminate against the local populace. Furthermore, as regards job advertisements, the
practice is widespread of applying the criterion not that the person appointed must have a knowledge of
languages as such but that he/she must be a native speaker.

How is Commission planning to resolve the problem of indirect discrimination based on unfair language
requirements in its ‘For Diversity, Against Discrimination’ campaign? What specific measures are planned
in this area?

(2004/C 33 E/255)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2319/03

by Philip Claeys (NI) to the Commission

(14 July 2003)

Subject:

‘For Diversity, Against Discrimination’ campaign

The campaign to encourage diversity and combat discrimination is a multiannual project and has started
with discrimination at the workplace. Workers in undertakings criticised for not being sufficiently diverse
are depicted as a set of crash-test dummies. On the campaign website and in its pamphlets, an idyllic
picture is painted of firms which feature ‘diversity’: diversity results in enhanced motivation for the
workers, in improved creativity, even in larger profits.

In a large number of areas, however, businesses are operating which, with regard to ethnic diversity, are
not ’diverse’, although they are efficient, creative and innovative (cid:1) in part because of the diversity of the
talents and capabilities of their workforce. Although a large number of undertakings employ few workers
from ethnic minorities, that is not because they are pursuing any kind of discriminatory policy. In many
cases, persons from ethnic minorities do not generally possess the qualifications required, sometimes
because of a lack of knowledge of languages and of the high school dropout rates of such minorities.

What mechanisms will be incorporated into the campaign with a view to preventing undertakings which
operate in good faith from being stigmatised because of their ’lack’ of ethnic diversity?

Is the Commission aware of the danger that undertakings (cid:1) under pressure from European or other
governmental campaigns (cid:1) might resort to what is known as ’affirmative action’, with better qualified
applicants being rejected on the grounds that they are not members of an ethnic minority? What measures
is the Commission thinking of taking so as to counter such perverse effects of diversity campaigns?

Joint answer
to Written Questions E-2305/03, E-2306/03 and E-2319/03
given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(26 August 2003)

The initiative referred to by the Honourable Member is designed to inform people of their new rights and
obligations under the two anti-discrimination Directives based on Article 13 of the EC Treaty that were
adopted in 2000 (1). The campaign is funded under the awareness-raising strand of the Community action
programme to combat discrimination (2).