Currently, the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy works on the draft of the act on implementation EU regulation concerning equal treatment (the draft is available here). Many different proposals of “equality treament act” were prepared during lat 4 years. They were also a subject of a public consultancy.
On 3 August 2009 in interview on Polish Radio (the interview is available here), The Government’s Agent for Equal Treatment – Elżbieta Radziszewska said that there is no draft of an act on equal treatment and that there will not be any act on equal treatment. She added that there is no concern about that fact that European Commission would impose any pecuniary penalty on Poland. In her opinion the defects of implementation of the anti-discrimination directives will be corrected till the end of the year, for instance by the novelization of the Polish Act of Commissioner for the Protection of Civil Rights (Ombudsman). By the novelization, the Commissioner will play the role of so called equality body.
Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights send a letter to the Prime Minister containing question if the statement presented by Radziszewska is an official statement of Polish Government in the matter of equal treatment act. Additionally, the Foundation asked how the Government is going to implement EU directives concerning equal treatment and counteraction against discrimination.
The Government’s Agent for Equal Treatment answered the Foundation’s letter on 20 August 2009. She informed that the Government will conduct a legislative work on proposal of equal treatment act. She ensured that she will exercise due diligence to implement into Polish law EU regulation on anti-discrimination law (Agent’s letter is available here).
