In their question to the European Commission, MEPs Raül Romeva i Rueda (Verts/ALE), Sophia in ’t Veld (ALDE), Claude Moraes (S&D), Lívia Járóka (PPE), Michael Cashman (S&D), Zita Gurmai (S&D), Emine Bozkurt (S&D), Kinga Göncz (S&D) addressed the issue of "independent and effective equality bodies to ensure the implementation and impact of EU equal treatment legislation".

Ms. Susanne Nour Magnusson is the Director of the Equality Department in the Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR).

The DIHR is a founding member of Equinet and an independent national human rights institution (NHRI) (modelled in accordance with the UN Paris Principles) as well as a national equality body in accordance to the Danish law on equal treatment within the areas of race, ethnicity, gender and disability. More information about the institute can be found here.

Sex discrimination is the second most common cause for complaint to the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland (ECNI) and women’s treatment in the workplace gives rise to the largest proportion of these complaints.

In December 2011 the Swedish government commissioned a preliminary study concerning the development of national equality data. The task to conduct the study was given to the Swedish Equality Ombudsman (EO). The study was to examine those methods that might be suitable for collecting data in relation to five of the seven discrimination grounds in the Discrimination Act (age and sex were excluded from the study) as well as in relation to the five recognized national minorities.

Court of Justice of the European Union issues a preliminary ruling on the responsibility of employers in the case of homophobic or discriminatory statements.

The Public Defender of Rights has concluded a Cooperation Agreement with two Czech non-governmental organizations (Counselling Centre for Citizenship, Civil and Human Rights in Prague and IQ Roma Servis in Brno), by means of which the NGOs will assist the victims of discrimination in acquiring evidence for possible court or administrative proceedings for breaching the prohibition of discrimination.

Hungarian Ombudsman files a petition to the Constitutional Court about the amended regulation of the obstacle-clearance of the public transportation

The consultations with various stakeholders are taking place on 19-20 February 2013 under the aegis of Equinet’s Czech member, the Public Defender of Rights.

CITE – the Portuguese Commission for Equality in Labour and Employment, has, over the years, developed a network with companies and organisations, with the aim of promoting gender equality in work and employment.