Tag: gender equality

Summaries of judgments: Staatssecretaris van Justitie en Veiligheid (Women identifying with the value of gender equality) | Ilva and Others

On By officialblogunioIn Summaries of judgmentsLeave a comment 
Summaries of judgments made in collaboration with the Portuguese judge and référendaire of the CJEU (Nuno Piçarra and Sophie Perez)

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Judgment of the Court (Grand Chamber) of 11 June 2024, Staatssecretaris van Justitie en Veiligheid (Women identifying with the value of gender equality), Case C-646/21, EU:C:2024:487

Reference for a preliminary ruling – Area of freedom, security and justice – Common asylum policy – Directive 2011/95/EU – Qualification for refugee status – Article 2(d) and (e) – Reasons for persecution – Article 10(1)(d) and (2) – ‘Membership of a particular social group’ – Article 4 – Individual assessment of the facts and circumstances – Directive 2013/32/EU – Article 10(3) – Requirements for the examination of applications for international protection – Article 24(2) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union – Best interests of the child – Determination – Third-country nationals who are minors and who identify with the fundamental value of equality between women and men by reason of their stay in a Member State

Facts

Two sisters of Iraqi nationality, born in 2003 and 2005, respectively, have stayed continuously in the Netherlands since 2015. After their initial applications for international protection were rejected, by decisions that became final in 2018, they submitted subsequent applications in 2019. In support of those applications, they stated that, due to their long stay in the Netherlands, they have adopted the norms, values and conduct of young people of their age in that society. They claim that, if they return to Iraq, they would be unable to conform to the norms of a society which does not afford women and girls the same rights as men and fear being exposed to a risk of persecution due to the identity which they have formed in the Netherlands. They submit that they are therefore members of a ‘particular social group’, within the meaning of Article 10(1)(d) of Directive 2011/95.

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Analyzing informal care from an EU perspective

On By officialblogunioIn EssaysLeave a comment 
Maria Inês Costa (Master’s student in Human Rights at UMinho).
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A 2018 report by the European Commission highlights that the European Pillar of Social Rights “makes explicit the commitment to people providing care, including their rights to flexible working and access to care services“,[1] bearing in mind that data suggests that most long-term care in Europe – around 80% –  is provided by informal carers, this is, people who care for dependent or elderly people, to whom they offer support in basic and/or instrumental activities of daily living. These caregivers are not trained in health care and presumably do not receive compensation for doing this work, neither do they possess a formal work agreement.[2]

In fact, the European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan, whose goals are to be achieved by 2030, addresses the fact that the resilience of long-term care is being put to the test, not only by the additional strain of the pandemic, but also by demographic trends that suggest an increasingly ageing European society, requiring rapid and effective responses in terms of health care services, their quality and distribution across the territory.[3] Eurocarers, the European network representing informal carers and their organizations, reacted positively to the proposal of the European Pillar of Social Rights, highlighting in a written contribution that support provided to informal carers was key to the sustainability of the health and long-term care systems through participation and integration policies focusing on their well-being, employment and empowerment.[4] In a letter sent to the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Union in April 2021, the European network insisted on the importance of implementing the principles outlined in the European Pillar of Social Rights, and called for the urgent development of a global EU strategy on care, comprehensive enough to address all aspects of formal and informal care, including the current shortages in the informal care sector and the need to ensure support for informal carers to improve their situation, given their crucial role in providing care across the EU.[5]

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