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To Ban Gender
Bias In Insurance, Pensions The Wall Street
Journal The European Commission
formalized a controversial proposal to ban sex discrimination on
everything from insurance rates to private pension
funds. In the first step toward
establishing a new law for the 15-nation European Union, the commission,
the EU's executive agency, published draft legislation that would ban the
use of a person's sex in the calculation of insurance rates and related pension plans. It also would ban banks from discriminating against
women in lending. The commission says the
proposal, which has been taking shape this year, is the result of numerous
complaints from EU citizens, men and women alike, about such
discrimination. Trade unions and the European Women's Lobby have long
sought new rules extending the ban on workplace discrimination to
nonworkplace discrimination. Anna Diamantopoulou, the
commissioner responsible for the draft law, said banks and insurance firms
exaggerate the significance of gender in their risk analyses. She noted
that sex discrimination in such cases is banned in She justified the proposals by
noting trends toward increased women's employment and governments'
encouragement of expanded use of private pensions
. She said the law could be phased in over the course of several years to
minimize the immediate impact on businesses. European insurers responded in
alarm, arguing that the proposals would seriously distort the EU's
automobile-insurance and life-insurance markets and could raise prices
overall. "The proposed directive may well lead to higher insurance
prices for all consumers," said Daniel Schante, head of the European
Insurance Committee (CEA), a Brussels-based industry lobby. Ms. Diamantopoulou says the
plan should result in lower health-insurance premiums for women and lower
motor-insurance premiums for men. But Mr. Schante and other European
insurance executives say the proposals, if endorsed by European
governments and the European Parliament, would likely push up
life-insurance rates for men and auto premiums for women. "Young men in cars are
very dangerous," said David Stephens, a director of Diamond
Insurance, of the Mr. Stephens said he wasn't
worried about the future of his business, which has €200 million ($230
million) in revenue. "I would be very surprised if the European
Parliament allowed through a directive that increased insurance premiums
for women," he said. Copyright
© 2002 Global Action on Aging |