As the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, promised MEPs last week (see EUROPE 12508/11), the college of Commissioners held a debate on Wednesday 24 June on racism and the lack of “diversity and equity” in the EU.
The Vice-President of the institution in charge of Values and Transparency, Vera Jourova, indicated at the end of the debate that specific actions in this area would be announced in the autumn.
For the time being, the Commissioners have been content to assess the “potential courses of action”. They considered, for example, the development of an Action Plan for Equality of Racial and Ethnic Minorities in Europe and agreed that work should be done to increase diversity within the Commission by “identifying the origins of the shortcomings and responding to them in recruitment, training and the workplace environment”.
Their discussions also focussed on the role of education, culture, the media, as well as regions and cities, said the Vice-President, emphasising that racism manifests itself specifically in sectors such as housing and public services, for which regions and local communities are often responsible.
Mrs Jourova also said that the European Commission would like to see Community funding “better used”, in particular to promote equal opportunities.
Colonial past. When asked about calls, particularly in Belgium, to remove public monuments erected to the glory of racist or colonialist figures, the European Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders, said he did not think this was “the best way”.
He considered it preferable to “insist on research and debate and analyse on the memories”.
Saying that work would be carried out in the Belgian Parliament by a committee dedicated to the country's colonial past, Mr Reynders acknowledged that the EU should “maybe think about the same kind of process at the European level”. (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki)