Bodies for the promotion of equal treatment (article 13 Directive 2000/43)

• Author: Chiara Favilli
• Pages: 54-60

54

7BODIES FOR THE PROMOTION OF EQUAL TREATMENT (Article 13 Directive

2000/43)

a)Body designated for the promotion of equal treatment irrespective of racial/ethnic

origin according to Article 13 of the Racial Equality Directive

The requirement to introduce a body for the promotion of equal treatment is covered in

Article 7 of Legislative Decree 215/2003, transposing Directive 2000/43/EC. The decree

establishes an ‘office’ within the Department for Equal Opportunities of the Presidency of

the Council of Ministers. According to Article 7(1), the promotion of equal treatment and

the elimination of any sort of discrimination on grounds of racial and ethnic origin are the

general and exclusive tasks of the office. UNAR’s remit has been extended to cover all

grounds of discrimination by a ministerial directive (an internal act of the Government

assessing the specific tasks of each Government department) issued in 2010, renewed in

2012 and valid until the Government decides otherwise.

The director of the office is appointed by the Prime Minister or by a minister on his behalf

(Article 7(4) of Legislative Decree 215/2003). Its internal organisation is set out by a Prime

Minister’s Decree adopted on 11 December 2003 (Costituzione e organizzazione interna

dell’Ufficio per la promozione della parità di trattamento e la rimozione delle

discriminazioni, di cui all’art. 29 della legge comunitaria 1° marzo 2002, n. 39). The office

fulfils two services: one devoted to actions against discrimination; the other devoted to

research and relations with other institutions.

According to Article 3 of the Decree, 21 officials shall be employed, including one general

executive, one executive for each service and 18 officials. Moreover, other officials may be

recruited, seconded either from other Prime Minister’s departments (up to a maximum of

five), or from other Government departments. This includes judges, state attorneys,

experts and advisers without civil servant status (up to a maximum of five) (Article 7(5)

of Legislative Decree 215/2003). In June 2019, the Government appointed Triantafillos

Loukarelis as General Director.

UNAR’s competences include the provision of assistance to victims of discrimination in

pursuing their complaints in judicial or administrative proceedings and surveys on

discrimination, but without infringing on the prerogatives of the judicial authorities.

b) Political, economic and social context of the designated body

In Italy, there is a general lack of interest regarding the equality body and regarding bodies

dealing with human rights in general. No independent body has been designated to deal

with discrimination (not even on the grounds of gender) or human rights. On the contrary,

there appears to be sharp hostility, judging from recurring questions asked by Members of

Parliament to the Government, sometimes including requests to close UNAR or to limit its

remit to race and ethnic origin, as required by Legislative Decree 215/2003.101

There is no evidence of a popular debate on the designated body, which is not even known

about by most people, even those who are more supportive of equality and diversity. UNAR

took centre stage in the national media only recently, when a scandal on its allocation of

funding was discovered, in addition to one previous occasion when an MP reacted to a

letter sent by UNAR’s director asking for more balanced speeches when dealing with

migrants.102 As far as equality and diversity in general are concerned, the popular debate

has mostly been influenced by hostility against migrants. In particular, there is an

increasing trend to link crimes committed by migrants to the general policy regarding

migration and expulsion, and even to integration policies. It appears that there is no place

for a popular consensus on equality and diversity.

101 See: http://www.camera.it/leg17/410?idSeduta=0748&tipo=stenografico.

102 See: http://www.camera.it/leg17/410?idSeduta=0746&tipo=documenti_seduta.