Motion for a resolution | Doc. 14134 | 14 September 2016

Discrimination in access to employment

Signatories: Mr Damien THIÉRY, Belgium, ALDE ; Ms Sílvia Eloïsa BONET, Andorra, SOC ; Mr Piet De BRUYN, Belgium, NR ; Ms Dawn BUTLER, United Kingdom, SOC ; Mr Boriss CILEVIČS, Latvia, SOC ; Mr Alain DESTEXHE, Belgium, ALDE ; Ms Ivana DOBEŠOVÁ, Czech Republic, ALDE ; Mr Jean-Pierre GRIN, Switzerland, ALDE ; Mr Jonas GUNNARSSON, Sweden, SOC ; Ms Françoise HETTO-GAASCH, Luxembourg, EPP/CD ; Mr Florian KRONBICHLER, Italy, SOC ; Mr Saša MAGAZINOVIĆ, Bosnia and Herzegovina, SOC ; Ms Guguli MAGRADZE, Georgia, SOC ; Ms Jaana PELKONEN, Finland, EPP/CD ; Ms Mechthild RAWERT, Germany, SOC ; Ms Mary ROBINSON, United Kingdom, EC ; Ms Milena SANTERINI, Italy, SOC ; Ms Petra De SUTTER, Belgium, SOC ; Mr Manuel TORNARE, Switzerland, SOC ; Ms Serap YAŞAR, Turkey, EC ; Mr Tobias ZECH, Germany, EPP/CD

This motion has not been discussed in the Assembly and commits only those who have signed it.

Every day, countless people are refused access to employment on the grounds, inter alia, of their ethnicity, their real or supposed religious beliefs, their age, their social origins, their physical appearance or their disability.

It is in the interest of our societies that everyone be able to contribute to and participate actively in them, including in the field of employment. Access to the labour market can be a powerful factor of integration. Conversely, being sidelined from the labour market accentuates exclusion and confines those affected to a vicious cycle of isolation, rejection and poverty.

Many studies on discriminatory hiring practices and their effect on victims have been carried out in the member States of the Council of Europe. The Parliamentary Assembly should evaluate the situation and identify good practices that can help to combat all forms of discrimination in access to employment more effectively. It should make concrete recommendations in order to strengthen the action of the Council of Europe, member States and other key actors against such discrimination.