On Friday 19 March, the European Commission published its third report on the application of the Racial Equality Directive (2000/43): twenty years after its adoption, 59% of Europeans still believe discrimination based on ethnic origin is widespread in their country (2019 Eurobarometer) and the effectiveness of this legislation still leaves something to be desired.
In particular, the report identifies the underreporting of discrimination as a persistent problem even though the number of complaints made has increased slightly since the last report in 2014, and several Member States have implemented initiatives to make it easier to make a complaint.
“Low awareness of the anti-discrimination legislation and of the existence of equality bodies that assist victims remain major challenges” notes the report, stating that 71% of members of ethnic or immigrant minority groups report to be unaware of any organisation offering support or advice to victims of discrimination.
The paper further states that the tendencies of some courts to establish moderate levels of damages or compensation and to favour non-monetary compensation “may discourage victims from taking legal action or from asking for pecuniary compensation in court”.
Weaknesses are also highlighted in the area of protection against “victimisation” – in other words, against retaliation in respect of complainants.
National legal systems have to ensure such protection. However, the latter applies “mainly in the field of employment” and there are still disparities between Member States in terms of those who can benefit from it.
“Some cover claimants, victims and witnesses only, while CJEU extends protection to anyone who could be affected by the reaction of the party subject to a complaint”, the report says. In particular, an infringement proceeding is underway against Belgium for not having transposed this provision correctly.
Finally, the report indicates that while in some Member States, civil society organisations contribute to the implementation of anti-discrimination legislation, others have little or no dialogue with these actors. Some organisations have even reported difficulties in working properly, “as a result of restrictive legislation and problems with access to funding, but also harassment”.
Anti-racism summit
“We all know how essential this dialogue is”, commented Commission Vice-President for Values and Transparency Vera Jourova at the EU anti-racism summit on Friday 19 March (see EUROPE 12681/30).
The event provided a platform on the subject for various ministers, politicians and civil society representatives, but some of them felt that the Commission had not listened to them much regarding organisation of the summit.
A statement made by the European Network Against Racism (ENAR), supported by some 40 organisations, particularly deplored the fact that civil society organisations “didn’t have the chance to meaningfully contribute to the design of the agenda and ensure it is inclusive”.
See the statement: http://bit.ly/3cUW4fE and the report: https://bit.ly/3s5XlGR (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki)