Brussels, 12/03/2015 (Agence Europe) -Installing electricity meters on pylons at a height of six metres in order to make them inaccessible to the residents in a majority Roma area is a practice which admittedly responds to a legitimate objective, in other words fighting fraud and abuse, but it is above all unnecessary, stigmatising and discriminatory, concluded Advocate General Juliane Kokott, before the Court of Justice of the EU on Thursday 12 March (case C-83/14).
In the 'Gizdova mahala' district of the Bulgarian town of Dupnitsa, the energy services company installed its customers' electricity meters on pylons at a height of six metres, even though they are usually installed two metres above ground level. In this district, which is made up mainly of Roma inhabitants, the company noted a high number of unauthorised connections, hence the decision to raise the meters, in order to make them harder to access.
The owner of a grocery store located in this district brought the matter before the Bulgarian justice system, accusing the energy company of operating direct discrimination based on ethnic origin, although she is not herself of Roma origin. She highlighted the fact that it made it impossible for her to check her meter, and the company responded by stressing that she could borrow a vehicle with a cherry-picker free of charge, or have an individual meter installed in her own home, but that she would have to pay for the latter.
The Belgian court approached the Court of Justice to ask, firstly, whether the Roma can be considered an ethnic group within the meaning of the principle of non-discrimination based on ethnic origin and, secondly, whether the practice in question can be described as unjustified discrimination. In her conclusions, Kokott said that the Roma should be considered as an ethnic group of their own, as has incidentally already been recognised by the European Court of Human Rights. She then said that the act of taking a specific measure, targeting a majority Roma area, is discrimination, but indirect, as it does not just affect the Roma.
As for the objective of this illegal practice, on the other hand, it appears legitimate. The means used (installing the meters at a height) also appear adequate to achieve it. However, the practice appears unnecessary, as there are other ways of fighting fraud and abuse, whilst being less constraining and allowing consumers to monitor their electricity consumption, she suggested. The Belgian court could look into other means, such as reinforcing the security of the meters. Additionally, if this practice of raising them was considered necessary, then it would risk stigmatising the population of the district. Kokott said that the case is the illustration of a problem in which interests of a purely economic order should move to second place. (Jan Kordys)