The EU programme Equal is promoting new means of combating all forms of discrimination and inequalities in connection with the labour market. A new round of Equal was launched in 2004, and a number of projects have now been approved for the starting phase, during which the projects will consolidate the national and transnational work.

Four new Equal projects are in the process of forming a transnational partnership focussing on the discrimination ground sexual orientation. The projects are:

• ”Deledios” (France)
• ”Open and Safe at Work.lt” (Lithuania)
• ”Partnership for Equality” (Slovenia)
• ”Beneath the Surface” (Sweden).

Although the scope of each project differs – e.g. the Lithuanian project focuses on young people and the labour market in general, while the Swedish project focuses on the working environment of schools – the four projects have a lot in common: they all have an interest of awareness raising and capacity building in organisations, institutions and social partners, focusing on sexual orientation issues related to working life, both on a national and on EU level. They want to create an inclusive environment, collect and disseminate good practice, carry out research, foster partnership and develop sustainable networks on all levels.

The partnership will be built on three different pillars, formed as working groups, which will focus on different parts of the projects scope and activities.

The objective of the Research Group is to learn more of how the heterosexual norm is constructed and repeated in different areas of working life. The Communication/Policymaking Group will, with a clear EU perspective, work to raise awareness and make sustainable change of discriminatory structures in society and among social partners. The Experience Exchange Group will work to establish sustainable communication between similar organisations and institutions in the participating countries, in order to make sure that key actors can benefit from good practice, methods and policies developed and used in other countries.

On condition that the partners are approved for the next phase of Equal, the partnership will go on until spring 2007. In 2005 a joint information leaflet will be published, and the partners will develop web sections in English on their respective web pages. Communication and policymaking activities as well as experience exchange will go on continuously. Conferences will be held in France 2005, Sweden 2006 (research conference) and Lithuania 2006. A final conference, where conclusions will be presented, will be held in Slovenia in 2007. Reports on research and other project activities/conclusions will be presented during the project period.

In this transnational partnership, many organisations from different countries and from different sectors in working life (NGOs, trade unions, employers’ organisations and companies) will unite in spreading the same message in a strategic way. They all want to contribute to positive progress on sexual orientation issues related to working life, both on national level and on EU level. They all are eager to start the transnational cooperation – as soon as the national representatives of the European Social Fund have given their approval, which is expected before summer.