Equality bodies

For the time being, it should be kept in mind that the Centre is still not competent to deal with cases involving discrimination based on trade union opinion.

The Centre issues reports and recommendations within its mandate. It also assists victims of discrimination, and it may file judicial actions. The Centre has been established as an autonomous public service; although organically attached directly to the Prime Minister of the Belgian Federal Government, its independence is guaranteed by legislation and, in practice, it fulfils its mandate in an independent fashion.

The Centre is now entrusted with the monitoring and implementation of some of the legislative instruments adopted by the Regions and the Communities. This body is still currently a federal agency and in order to empower it to play a role at regional level, a Protocol of Collaboration or a Cooperation Agreement has to be concluded between the Federal Government and the Government of each Region and Community concerned. In 2009, two Protocols of Collaboration were signed with the Walloon Region and the French-speaking Community and 5 people are working in the Centre under the scope of these Protocols of Collaboration. These Protocols allow the Centre to fulfil all its traditional missions, apart from filing legal suits, in the fields covered by the Decrees of the Walloon Region and of the French-speaking Community. Such a Protocol is still under discussion with the Region of Brussels-Capital and the Cocof. There is presently no Protocol with the Flemish Community/Region, which has nevertheless given public funding to the Centre for Equal Opportunities to participate in the setting of 13 contact points in the larger cities of Flanders (training, exchanges of good practices, etc.). The German-speaking Community has not yet designated any equality body in relation to its anti-discrimination law. It has, however, instituted the function of Ombudsman for the German-speaking Community on 26 May 2009. The Ombudsman is notably tasked with supervising the compliance by administrative bodies with the Anti-discrimination Directives. In addition, the Economic and Social Council of the German-speaking Community was vested, on 27 April 2009, with the mission of producing reports, studies and recommendations on all aspects related to labour market discrimination, “with an eye to ensuring the full implementation” of the European Directives adopted in this field. In the future, there could be a formal Cooperation Agreement between the Federal Government and the Government of some (if not each) Region and Community that would revise the missions, funding and organisation of the Centre for Equal Opportunities and Opposition to Racism, aiming at transforming it in an inter-federal Centre.