01/10/1999 (Agence Europe)

Following the ruling by the European Court of Human Rights according to which the exclusion of homosexuals from the British army is in breach of human rights (see EUROPE of 29 September, p.8) the MEPs on the Emma Bonino list have tabled a draft resolution on discrimination in the EU based on sexual orientation, and calling in particular on the European Commission to present, as soon as possible, an act of application for Article 13, the Amsterdam Treaty's "anti-discrimination article". The Radical MEPs also call on the Commission and/or Member States to set in motion, if serious violations of human rights based on sexual orientations continue to be observed in certain Member States, the procedure provided for by Article 7 of the treaty, which, in case of serious and persistent breaches of the principles on which the EU is based, allows for the suspension in the States concerned of certain rights stemming from belonging to the Union. In addition, Mrs. Bonino and Messrs. Pannella, Dell'Alba, Dupuis, Cappato, D

ella Vedova and Turco call on the United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, Portugal and Greece to abolish the gap between the age of consent for homosexuals and heterosexuals as soon as possible, as well as discrimination against homosexuals in the army.

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