CELEX: 51984PC0057
Language: en
Date: 1984-03-09
Title: PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL DIRECTIVE OF THE PRINCIPLE OF EQUAL TREATMENT FOR MEN AND WOMEN IN SELF-EMPLOYED OCCUPATIONS, INCLUDING AGRICULTURE, AND ON PROTECTION DURING PREGNANCY AND MATERNITY

N o C 113/4                          Official Journal of the European Communities                                 27.4.84
                                                            II
                                                    (Preparatory Acts)
                                               COMMISSION
             Proposal for a Council Directive on the application of the principle of equal treatment as
             between men and women engaged in an activity, including agriculture, in a self-employed
             capacity, and on the protection of self-employed women during pregnancy and
                                                       motherhood
                                                   COM(84) 5 7 final/2
                            (Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 15 March 1984)
                                                     (84/C 113/04)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN                                     laws of the Member States relating to the application
COMMUNITIES,                                                    of the principle of equal pay for men and women ( 2 );
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the
                                                                Whereas, as regards other aspects of equality of
European Economic Community, and in particular
                                                                treatment between men and women, on 9 February
Articles 100 and 235 thereof,                                   1976 the Council adopted Directive 76/207/EEC on
                                                                the implementation of the principle of equal treatment
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,              for men and women as regards access to employment,
                                                                vocational training and promotion, and working
                                                                conditions (3) and on 19 December 1978 Directive
Having regard to the opinion of the             European
                                                                79/7/EEC on the progressive implementation of the
Parliament,
                                                                principle of equal treatment for men and women in
                                                                matters of social security (4);
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and
Social Committee,
                                                                Whereas, as regards persons engaged in a self-
                                                                employed capacity, in an activity in which their
Whereas, in its resolution of 12 July 1982 on the
                                                                spouses are also engaged, the implementation of the
promotion of equal opportunities for women (*), the
                                                                principle of equal treatment should be pursued
Council approved the general objectives of the
                                                                through the adoption of detailed provisions designed
Commission communication concerning a new
                                                                to cover the specific situation of these persons;
Community action programme on the promotion of
equal opportunities for women (1982 to 1985) and
expressed the will to implement appropriate measures
                                                                Whereas differences persist between the Member
to achieve them;
                                                                 States in this field; whereas, therefore, it is necessary
                                                                to approximate national provisions with regard to the
Whereas action 5 of the programme referred to above              application of the principle of equal treatment;
concerns the application of the principle of equal
treatment to self-employed women and to women in
agriculture;                                                     Whereas in certain respects the Treaty does not
                                                                 confer the powers necessary for the specific actions
                                                                 required;
Whereas the implementation of the principle of equal
pay for men and women workers, as laid down in
Article 119 of the Treaty, forms an integral part of             Whereas the implementation of the principle of equal
the establishment and functioning of the common                  treatment is without prejudice to measures concerning
market;                                                          the protection of women during pregnancy and
                                                                 motherhood,
Whereas on 10 February 1975 the Council adopted
Directive 75/117/EEC on the approximation of the                 (2) OJ N o L 45, 19. 2. 1975, p. 19.
                                                                 (3) OJ No L 39, 14. 2. 1976, p. 40.
 (') OJ No C 186, 21. 7. 1982, p. 3.                             (4) O J N o L 6 , 10. 1. 1979, p. 24.
 ---pagebreak--- 27. 4. 84                           Official Journal of the European Communities                             N o C 113/5
HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:                                    constitute direct or indirect discrimination in that
                                                               they prejudice substantially the status of the spouse as
                                                               employee.
                         Article 1
1.     The purpose of this Directive is to ensure the
application in the Member States of the principle of                                    Article 7
equal treatment as between men and women engaged
in an activity in a self-employed capacity, or con-            To enable spouses as referred to in Article 2 (b),
tributing to such an activity, in so far as those aspects      working without a partnership agreement or contract
not covered by Directives 76/207/EEC and                       of employment, to benefit from their participation in
79/7/EEC are concerned.                                        the activities of a self-employed worker, the Member
                                                               States shall take the measures necessary to ensure that
                                                               these spouses may:
2.    This Directive also provides for the protection
of self-employed women during pregnancy and
motherhood.                                                    (a) receive, at their request and in the event that this
                                                                    right is not embodied in the related marriage
                                                                    contract, consideration for the work they
                         Article 2                                  perform, whether in cash or some other form;
This Directive covers:                                              such consideration shall not in any year exceed
                                                                    the equivalent of half the annual profit realized
(a) self-employed persons, that is to say, all persons              by the self-employed worker nor shall it exceed
    pursuing a gainful activity for their own account,              the remuneration which would have been paid to
     including farmers and members of the liberal                   a third party for the performance of equivalent
    professions;                                                    tasks;
(b) their spouses, where the latter are participating to       (b) build up an independent entitlement as regards
     a significant extent in the activities of the self-            social security, including the right to pregnancy
     employed worker and performing the same tasks                  and maternity benefits;
     or ancillary tasks without a partnership agreement
    or contract of employment.
                                                               (c) obtain recognition for their work, for example by
                                                                    means of an appropriate entry in the register kept
                         Article 3                                  by the association or other trade body to which
For the purposes of this Directive the principle of                 the self-employed worker belongs;
equal treatment implies the absence of all discrimi-
nation on grounds of sex, either directly or indirectly        (d) enjoy the same rights as the self-employed worker
by reference in particular to marital or family status.             as regards entitlement to vote and stand for office
                                                                    within the bodies representing the sector of
                         Article 4                                  activity in which the self-employed worker is
                                                                    engaged; nevertheless, this obligation does not
As regards self-employed persons, Member States                     apply to activities the pursuit of which is subject
shall take the measures necessary to ensure that all                to the possession of a diploma or certificate
provisions and practices are abolished which are                    attesting to the holder's vocational capacities,
contrary to the principle of equal treatment, especially            where      the    spouse     lacks   the     requisite
in respect of the establishment, fitting-out or                     qualifications;
expansion of a business or the launching or expansion
of any other form of self-employed activity; this
                                                               (e) obtain access, subject to the same conditions as
obligation shall apply in particular to the conditions
                                                                    the self-employed worker, to training and
for the granting of loans.
                                                                    retraining in respect of the activities they pursue
                                                                    or intend to pursue in collaboration with the
                         Article 5                                  aforesaid worker.
As regards spouses as referred to in Article 2 (b),
Member States shall take the measures necessary to
                                                                                         Article 8
eliminate all obstacles, whether direct or indirect, to
the formation of a company as between spouses.                 Member States shall take the measures necessary to
                                                               ensure that women self-employed workers and the
                                                               spouses of self-employed workers as referred to under
                         Article 6
                                                               Article 2 (b) shall, during interruptions in their occu-
 Member States shall take the measures necessary to            pational activity due to pregnancy or maternity, be
abolish fiscal provisions and practices which                   able to call on relief services or be entitled to appro-
 ---pagebreak--- No C 113/6                               Official Journal of the European Communities                                     27.4.84
priate benefits under a social security scheme,                                                   Article 12
whether contributory or otherwise, or any other
public social protection system.                                         1.    The Member States shall bring into force the
                                                                         laws, regulations and administrative provisions
                                                                         necessary to comply with this Directive by not later
                             Article 9
                                                                         than . . . 0).
Member States shall take the measures necessary to                       2.    Member States shall immediately inform the
enable all persons who consider themselves affected                      Commission of the measures taken to comply with
by failure to apply the principle of equal treatment in                  this Directive.
self-employed occupations to pursue their claims by
judicial process after possible recourse to other                                                 Article 13
competent authorities.                                                                    2
                                                                         1.    B y . . . ( ) , Member States shall forward all
                                                                         information necessary to the Commission to enable it
                           Article 10                                    to draw up a report on the application of this
Member States shall take the measures necessary to                       Directive for submission to the Council.
protect those persons referred to in Article 2 against                   2.    By. . . (3), and every three years thereafter,
penalties imposed by a trade association or other                        Member States shall transmit reports to the
body, in particular, the exclusion or suspension of the                  Commission indicating the respective proportions of
person concerned or the imposition of restrictions on                    men and women in the bodies or associations
his rights within the body or association concerned,                     representing self-employed workers and the number
in response to any complaints or legal proceedings                       of spouses as referred to in Article 2 (b) whose work
aimed at enforcing compliance with the principle of                      has been given recognition.
equal treatment.
                                                                                                  Article 14
                           Article 11                                    This Directive is addressed to the Member States.
Member States shall ensure that the measures adopted
pursuant to this Directive, together with the relevant                   (') Date to be inserted: two years following the date of
                                                                             notification.
provisions already in force, are brought to the
                                                                         (2) Date to be inserted: four years following the date of
attention of bodies representing the self-employed                           notification.
workers in question and of vocational-training                           (3) Date to be inserted: five years following the date of
centres.                                                                     notification.
              A m e n d m e n t s to the proposal for a Council Regulation o n the security to b e given t o
                                              ensure p a y m e n t of a customs debt (')
                                                        COM(84) 198 final
              (Submitted by the Commission to the Council pursuant to Article 149 (2) of the EEC Treaty
                                                          on 6 April 1984)
                                                           (84/C 113/05)
              The Commission hereby amends its proposal as follows:
              1. The following subparagraph (f) is added to Article 1 (2):
                  '(f) "public authority" means an authority which exercises statutory powers within the
                        framework of the State.'
              (>) O J N o C 30,4. 2. 1983, p. 11.