From: Nils.KOCH@DG22.cec.be
Date: Thu, 13 Feb 1997 15:40:06 +0100

PRESS RELEASE

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT TO GIVE EQUAL TREATMENT TO LESBIANS AND GAYS?

Turnaround in European Parliament: MEPs will vote on Wednesday (19 February)
on equality for its women, ethnic minority and lesbian and gay employees
Reversing in effect the decision of its Committee on Legal Affairs and
Citizens Rights to reject the "Lindholm Report" (see EGALITE Press Release of
28 January), the European Parliament will after all vote next week on
measures which would bring equal treatment a step closer.

"This is the second surprise from the Parliament in two weeks," said Roy
Dickinson, Co-President of EGALITE, the 350-strong group of gay and lesbian
employees of the EU's institutions, "but a very much more welcome surprise
than the last one._

Swedish Green MEP Malou Lindholm had produced a report which examined
recruitment procedures and conditions of employment, calling for a ban on
discrimination against women, ethnic minorities and lesbians and gays on the
the EU institutions` staff and for couples in registered partnerships
(including same-sex couples) to be given rights similar to married couples.
The voting down of the Lindholm report was a highly unusual occurence.  Not
only did it mean that the proposals affecting women's and ethnic minorities'
rights had been thrown out along with the measures affecting lesbians and
gays (jeopardising five years of work on these issues), but it left a
procedural void which has now been filled in an equally unusual way.
Although the report itself was rejected, the legislative proposals it
contained have been rescued and will be tabled in the Plenary by a broad
coalition of five of the EP's political groups.  

"We will be keeping a close eye on events in the coming week to see if the
Parliament takes seriously what the Lindholm report called 'the vanguard role
of the EU insitutions' in modernising employment law," said Roy Dickinson.
"And, if the vote goes our way, we shall then keep an equally close eye on
how the European Commission and the Council of the European Union react to
the decision of the elected representatives of Europe's citizens."

If the Parliament votes in favour of the proposals, the next step is for the
Commission to consider whether it wants to ask the Council to turn them into
law.  The Commissioner responsible, Erkki Liikanen, is known to be in favour
of modernising the EU staff`s terms and conditions employment, and was behind
the Commission`s first steps to improve things for its lesbian and gay
employees last year. 

Further information: Kieran Burns (+32.2.296.20.93: kieran.burns@sdt.cec.be),
Roy Dickinson (+32.2.299.00.39: roy.dickinson@dg1.cec.be), Marion Oprel
(moprel@europarl.eu.int)