Goods and services (Directive 2004/113)

• Author: Renga, Simonetta
• Pages: 79-81

79

9Goods and services (Directive 2004/113)89

9.1General (legal) context

9.1.1Surveys and reports about the difficulties linked to equal access to and supply of

goods and services

In Italy, there is no debate regarding discrimination based on sex in the access to or prices

of services and such differential treatment is very rare. The sector where discrimination is

most likely to take place is that of insurances and financial services, and with respect to

this, the directive is crucially important in Italy, as elsewhere. There is no case law on the

enforcement of Directive 2004/113.

9.1.2Specific problems of discrimination in the online environment/digital

market/collaborative economy

We are not aware of any specific problems of gender discrimination concerning the access

to and supply of goods and services in the online environment/digital market/collaborative

economy. There is no evidence of any engagement in gender discrimination in relation to

this issue by any private or public stakeholders, such as national equality bodies and

collective agreements. On the side of consumer protection bodies, however, the Consiglio

Nazionale dei Consumatori e degli Utenti (CNCU) 2016 report recommends responsibility,

respect of general rules – therefore also anti-discrimination rules contained in our

Constitution and labour law legislation –and platform transparency in the online

environment/digital market/collaborative economy. The report was presented at the

region’s conference, where the question of whether the collaborative economy increases

or decreases equality was raised.90

9.1.3Political and societal debate

There is no debate among scholars or any other initiatives aimed at spreading awareness

of Directive 2004/113. This is probably both the cause and the effect of the merely formal

implementation of the directive. Indeed, Decree No. 196/2007, which implemented EC

Directive 2004/113, repeats the text of the directive literally. Substantive implementation

would require measures aimed at making people and institutions aware of the importance

of this issue.

9.2Prohibition of direct and indirect discrimination

EC Directive 2004/113has been implemented by Decree No. 196/2007, which adds 10

articles to the Equal Opportunities Code (Articles 55bis to 55decies of Decree No.

198/2006). The decree literally repeats the text of the directive.

Wedo not yet have any examples of cases regarding the implementation of Directive

2004/113. Nor were there any reported cases on gender discrimination regarding goods

and services before the implementation of the directive.

9.3Material scope

The Italian transposition is worded in the same way as the directive (Article 55ter

Decree No. 198/2006).

89 See e.g. Caracciolo di Torella, E. and McLellan, B. (2018) Gender equality and the collaborative economy,

European network of legal experts in gender equality and non-discrimination, available at

https://www.equalitylaw.eu/downloads/4573-gender-equality-and-the-collaborative-economy-pdf-721-kb.

90 See http://www.newtuscia.it/2017/04/19/ruolo-delle-associazioni-dei-consumatori-nelleconomia-

collaborativa/.