What does the ‪#‎EU‬ do for us? Protects against sexual discrimination in the supply of goods & services...

The Gender Directive, officially Council Directive 2004/113/EC of 13 December 2004 implementing the principle of equal treatment between men and women in the access to and supply of goods and services, is a directive which prohibits both direct and indirect sexual discrimination in the provision of goods and services in the European Union.

The directive applies to:

• all people and organisations (both public and private sector) that make goods and services available to the public;
• goods and services offered outside the area of private and family life.

National equality bodies
Each EU country must have at least one body responsible for promoting equal treatment between women and men in the fields covered by the directive. These national equality bodies are empowered to analyse the problems encountered, monitor the situation in their country, make recommendations and provide concrete assistance to victims.

Preventing insurers from using gender as a risk factor
According to Article 5(1) of Directive 2004/113/EC, member states must ensure that "the use of sex as a factor in the calculation of premiums and benefits for the purposes of insurance and related financial services shall not result in differences in individuals' premiums and benefits".