Goods and services (Directive 2004/113)

• Author: Romina Bartolo
• Pages: 47-48

47

9 Goods and services (Directive 2004/113)48

9.1 General (legal) context

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

goods and services

No su rveys or reports on difficulties lin ked to equal access to and supply of goods and

services have been published.

9.1.2 Specific problems of discrimination in the online environment/digital

market/collaborative economy

There are no specific problems to report.

9.1.3 Political and societal debate

There has been no political or societal debate.

9.2 Prohibition of direct and indirect discrimination

National law prohibits direct and indirect discrimination on grounds of sex by means of the

AGS Regulations enacted under the Equality for Men and Women Act 2003.

The Equality for Men and Women Act itself already contained some provisions that can be

considered as implementing some of the principles of t he directive. For example, Articles

8(1) and (3), 9, and 10 of the a ct, on educational guidance, sexual harassment, and

discriminatory advertising, respectively.

9.3 Material scope

The material scope of national law is broader than Directive 2004/113. Regulation 1(3) of

the AGS Regulations states:

‘These regulations shall apply to all persons who provide goods and services made

available to the public irrespective of the person concerned as regards both the public

and private sectors, including public bodies, and which are offered outside the area

of private and family life, and to all transactions carried out in this context. ’

9.4 Exceptions

Maltese law has not applied any exceptions, given that Regulation 1(3) of the AGS

Regulations states that the regulations

‘apply to all persons wh o provide goods and services made availabl e to the public,

irrespective of the person concerned as regards both the public and private s ectors,

including public bodies, and which are offered outside the area of private and family

life, and to all transactions carried out in this context.’

9.5 Justification of differences in treatment

Provision for justification of differences in treatment is made in Regulation 4(8) of the AGS

Regulations, which provides that ‘these regulations shall not preclude differences in

treatment, if the provision of the goods and services exclusively o r primarily to members

48 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.