Latvia Update (Mary Lou McDonald SF)

Okay i got a resonse from Mary Lou McDonald yesterday on this.

Stephen, a chara

Thank you for your email of June 19 2006, concerning the question of gay rights in Latvia.

I put down a formal written question to the Commission in response to your representations and I am now forwarding both question and answer for your attention.You will have noticed from the delay in responding to you, that the Commission moves very slowly.

I would be pleased to read your observations on the answer from the commission and please do not hesitate to contact me on any issues of concern to you in the future.

Le gach dea-mhéin

Mary Lou McDonald

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3425/06

by Mary McDonald (GUE/NGL)

to the Commission

Subject: Discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation

Can the Commission say if Latvia has refused to include sexual orientation in its anti-discrimination policy and if this was a condition of EU entry?

Can the Commission say what it could do about this situation?

E-3425/06EN

Answer given by Mr. Spidla

on behalf of the Commission

(1.9.2006)


The Commission is concerned about the situation of sexual orientation as one of the potential goals in draft legislation discussed recently in the Latvian Parliament. The Latvian President Mrs Vike-Freiberga also criticised this version of the law and returned it to the Parliament for further review.

The Commission underlines that all Member States have to transpose all the provisions of Council Directive 2000/78/EC of 27 November 2000 establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation1. Member States that joined the European Union on 1 May 2004 were obliged to transpose the Directive by that time. The Commission is currently in the process of analysing the transposition measures in all Member States and will take the appropriate measures provided under Article 226 of the EC Treaty to ensure that all the provisions of the Directive are correctly transposed into national law.