Ahead of an exchange of views within the Council of the EU’s Working Party on Fundamental Rights, Citizens Rights and Free Movement of Persons (FREMP), to be held on Tuesday 24 February, the Council Presidency has sent delegations a document on the ‘EU Strategy to Combat Racism 2026-2030’, presented by the European Commission on 20 January (see EUROPE 13790/8).
The document, dated Tuesday 17 February and seen by Agence Europe, states that racial discrimination remains “widespread” and “deeply rooted” in “social structures”. This is despite an abundance of European legislation, including: - Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union, which enshrines respect for human dignity and equality as founding values of the EU; - Article 21 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights, which prohibits discrimination on the grounds of race or ethnic origin; - the 2000 directive on equal treatment between persons irrespective of racial or ethnic origin; - the 2008 framework decision establishing the criminalisation of racial hate speech and crimes.
The EU Council Presidency is revisiting the concept of “structural racism”, presented as a combination of long-term obstacles to access to employment, housing, education, health or justice.
According to data from the Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA), the life expectancy of Roma women and men is 7.4 and 8 years respectively less than that of the general population. The document also reports that 46% of employed people of African descent are overqualified for their jobs and that 19% of Muslim households are likely to be affected by significant material deprivation compared to 6% of households in the general population.
The EU Council Presidency is guiding the discussion on the implementation of the Strategy by the Member States. Delegations are invited to specify what European support in terms of expertise, data collection, funding or exchanges of best practice would be needed to apply the strategy and to assess whether the existing legal framework provides sufficient tools or calls for additional measures.
The Member States must also identify the priorities for the period 2026-2030 and how best to cooperate with the Commission on these issues. (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)