28 Maio 2004

Annual report, June 1998 to June 1999 - text adopted by EP

56. Calls on Member States to guarantee one-parent families, unmarried couples and same-sex couples rights equal to those enjoyed by traditional couples and families, particularly as regards tax law, pecuniary rights and social rights;

57. Notes with satisfaction that, in a very large number of Member States, there is growing legal recognition for extramarital cohabitation, irrespective of gender; calls on the Member States - if they have not already done so - to amend their legislation recognising registered partnerships of persons of the same sex and assigning them the same rights and obligations as exist for registered partnerships between men and women; calls on those States which have not yet granted legal recognition to amend their legislation to grant legal recognition of extramarital cohabitation, irrespective of gender; considers, therefore, that rapid progress should be made with mutual recognition of the different legally recognised non-marital modes of cohabitation and legal marriages between persons of the same sex in the EU;

58. Notes, however, that European citizens continue to suffer discrimination and disadvantages in their personal and professional life as a result of their sexual orientation; calls therefore on the Member States and the EU institutions concerned to remedy such situations urgently;

59. Deplores the fact that some Member States still have a discriminatory age-of-consent provision for homosexual relations in their criminal codes as well as other forms of discrimination, in particular within the army, although various competent human rights bodies and Parliament itself have condemned these provisions; repeats its demand for such clauses to be repealed;

60. Notes with satisfaction that the United Kingdom is undertaking to change the relevant legislation, but notes with deep concern that Austria continues to apply Article 209 of its Penal Code in persecuting homosexuals; urges Austria once more to repeal this discriminatory provision, and immediately to give amnesty to and to release from prison all persons imprisoned because of this provision;

Annual report for the year 2000 - text adopted by EP

Discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation

79. Recommends that the Member States include sexual orientation in Additional Protocol No 12 to the European Convention on Human Rights as one of the prohibited grounds for discrimination and extend the terms of reference of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance to include homophobia based on sexual orientation;

80. Recommends that the Member States repeal all remaining discriminatory legislation concerning homosexuality and release from prison all persons jailed under such provisions, and calls in particular on Austria - in accordance with the ruling of the European Commission of Human Rights and the numerous appeals issued by the European Parliament - to revise the provisions concerning the age of consent;

81. Recommends that the Member States prohibit discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation and include it as an offence under the criminal or civil law of all Member States, and adopt appropriate employment-law measures to implement Council Directive 2000/78/EC of 27 November 2000 establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation(4);

82. Recommends that the Member States introduce legislation in line with Directive 2000/78/EC, which forbids discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation in access to goods and services, health, housing, education and social protection; notes that to date only eight Member States have equivalent anti-discriminatory legislation;

83. Repeal discriminatory laws against gays and lesbians in criminal codes of current Member States, as well as assuring that they will not ratify any accession of countries, which have discriminatory laws against homosexuality, such as Romania's Article 200;

Non-marital relationships

84. Recommends that Member States:

(a) amend their legislation in order to recognise non-marital relationships between persons of the same or the opposite sex and assign them equal rights,

(b) put the issue of mutual recognition of legally recognised non-marital relationships on the EU agenda;

85. Recommends that the Member States introduce legislation, which prohibits discrimination for long term co-habitants and provides the same judicial protection as for legally married couples;

Annual report for the year 2001 - text adopted by EP

Discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation

99. Calls on the Commission to compile an up-to-date and comparative review of the situation of homosexual men and women in the Member States so as to provide an insight into the increase or reduction in incidences of discrimination and the success of European and/or national anti-discrimination policy;

100. Calls on the Member States to pursue an explicit and coherent policy to combat discrimination against homosexual men and women, to promote their social emancipation and integration and to combat prejudice through culture and education and, in particular, by launching an information and solidarity campaign at European level;

101. Welcomes the fact that, on 13 August 2002, Austria repealed Article 209 of its Criminal Code and thus ended discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in legislation;

Forms of partnership

102. Calls on the Member States to recognise unmarried partnerships - between both couples of different sexes and same-sex couples - and to link them to the same rights as apply to marriage;

103. Urges the European Union to put the mutual recognition of unmarried partnerships and the issue of marriage between persons of the same sex on the political agenda and to draft specific proposals on the subject;

Annual report for the year 2002 - text adopted by EP

Discrimination based on sexual orientation

77. Calls once again on the Member States to abolish all forms of discrimination - whether legislative or de facto - which are still suffered by homosexuals, in particular as regards the right to marry and adopt children;

78. Welcomes the fact that several advances were made in 2002 in Austria (abolition of Article 209 of the criminal code), Finland (recognition of the rights of transsexuals) and Belgium (homosexual marriage);

79. Calls nonetheless on Austria to terminate all current proceedings under Article 209 (old) of the Criminal Code and institute rehabilitation measures for those convicted under this provision; calls also for the new Article 207b of the Criminal Code to be applied in a non-discriminatory manner;

80. Calls on Portugal, Ireland and Greece rapidly to amend their legislation under which the age of consent is dependent on sexual orientation, given the discriminatory nature of such provisions;

81. Recommends that the Member States more generally recognise non-marital relationships, both heterosexual and homosexual, and confer the same rights on partners in these relationships as on those who are married, inter alia by taking the necessary steps to enable couples to exercise freedom of movement within the Union;

82. Expresses concern at the dilution of Directive 2000/78/EC(8) establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and urges the Commission to prepare an analysis of the implementation and transposition of the Directive, highlighting any anomalies in Member States;

Artigos OpusGay - Europeias 2004 e LGBT:

Qual a Importância do Parlamento Europeu para os LGBT
Extractos dos Relatórios de Direitos Humanos (em Inglês)
Manifestos dos Partidos Portugueses e Europeus - Pensam ou não na agenda LGBT?
As exigências da OpusGay nas Eleições Europeias

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