occupational social security scheme

Mr President, the fact that we need to address ourselves to the subject of equal treatment for men and women in occupational social security schemes is in itself extremely regrettable.

This has now been achieved through the Employment Act 19 89 because of a requirement in the second European Directive on equal treatment in occupational social security schemes.

The amendments tabled by Mrs Torres Marques, whom I would congratulate, principally concern the inclusion of workers with atypical or part-time contracts in occupational social security schemes.

It is thus very necessary to take account of this form of work in the social security system and to exempt atypical jobs from any provision for company-based or occupational social security schemes.

The deadline for transposing Council Directive 96/97/EC of 20 December 1996 on the implementation of the principle of equal treatment for men and women in occupational social security schemes was 1 July 1997.

For the obvious reasons set out by the rapporteur, whose work I would commend, we now have to amend the 1986 directive implementing the principle of equal treatment for men and women in occupational social security schemes.

Explicit use has been made of a number of horizontal provisions relating to occupational social security schemes, and recent case law of the Court of Justice has been incorporated in order to increase legal certainty and clarity.

I believe that this directive addresses those problems that have been pointed out to us: equal pay, equal treatment in occupational social security schemes, and equal treatment in access to work, to training and to career promotion.

Mr President, the Commission has proposed to draft a Council Directive amending Directive 86/378/EEC on the implementation of the principle of equal treatment for men and women in occupational social security schemes.

As far as the Court of Justice is concerned these cases of occupational social security schemes are considered as part and parcel of remuneration and, consequently, may not be the subject of any derogations or distinctions.

But since the case-law of the Court of Justice considers that this article is not applied to compulsory social security schemes, where they are directly regulated by law, the same is not true of occupational social security schemes.

There will be no cohesion in Europe, nor will there be a consolidated social and economic model, if goods simply circulate without there being, as we have defined in the Charter, rights for all, which are a matter for the social responsibility of businesses or of an occupational social security scheme.

This proposal for a directive aims to ensure that an act of secondary Community law, namely Directive 86/378, on equal treatment for men and women in occupational social security schemes, is consistent with the provision of primary Community law, namely Article 119 of the Treaty, as interpreted by the Court of Justice.