Organisations
will have to keep extensive records to prove they are free of gender
discrimination under proposed legislation agreed by EU ministers this week.
The
directive bans the use of gender as a factor in the provision of all
"goods and services", covering every activity from banking and
transport to housing and manufacturing sector, reports the Daily Telegraph.
Firms
may take sex into account only where there is a "legitimate aim" such
as women’s sports or in combating "sex-related violence". Male- or
female-only clubs will be allowed, and there are exemptions for the media,
advertising and education.
The
directive also compels companies to publish records and prove their innocence
if sued for discrimination.
"Any
different treatment has to be based on relevant and accurate actuarial and
statistical data that has to be made public and regularly updated,” the draft
said. “When discrimination can be presumed from facts established before a
court, it will be for the respondent to prove there was no breach of the
principle of equal treatment.”
EU
ministers said the deal would go ahead in December, once legal experts have
reconciled the language with the German constitution.
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