Brussels, 10/03/2000 (Agence Europe) - Human rights and the effort to combat racism will be at the heart of the European Parliament's debates on Wednesday 15 March in Strasbourg, as Parliament examines four reports on the situation in the European Union, the applicant countries and more generally in the world.
The report by British Liberal Sarrah Ludford on combating racism and xenophobia in the EU invites the Member States to be attentive to the needs of minority communities and to encourage their community structures. The EU institutions and national governments are invited to release information in minority languages on public services, means of recourse and legal assistance services. The report also asks the Commission, Council and Parliament to "clean house" by amending their personnel statute so as to be able to employ residents and not just citizens of the EU, putting an end to the exclusion of the 12 to 14 million third-country nationals living in the EU. It invites Member States that have not yet done so to sign and ratify the Council of Europe framework Convention on the Protection of National Minorities and the European Charter of Regional and Minority Languages. The fight against racism and xenophobia and the promotion of equal opportunity should be placed under the responsibility of a single member of the European Commission and the competences of the European Monitoring Centre should be enlarged to the third pillar (justice/home affairs). The media should draw up a code of ethics and monitor compliance therewith.
The report also asks the plenary to call for compulsory inclusion in school curricula and teacher training programmes of (1) content on Europe in the world, notably on slavery and colonialism, and the history and culture of minority communities, and (2) content on the dangers of racism, xenophobia and intolerance, including the holocaust and anti-Semitism. Parliament should also ask Member States to give top priority to police and judicial co-operation: - the fight against racist and xenophobic violence, including racist incidents in football; - the fight against illegal trafficking in immigrants. The report also calls for training of police and judicial authorities to raise their awareness of racial issues and to improve communication with minorities.
The Ludford report, adopted by 26 to 7 by the Committee on Citizens' Rights and Freedoms, also recommends that Parliament welcome the decision by 14 Union Member States to freeze bilateral relations with Austria and ask the Commission to ensure that Austria, in spite of the participation of a racist and xenophobic party in its government, respects the Union Treaty.
Recommendations for applicant countries
Adopting the report by Baastian Belder (EDD, Netherlands) on racism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism in the applicant countries, the Committee on Foreign Affairs qualifies the European Commission's Communication on this subject a "belated statement of intent". Mentioning its "vague analysis" and lack of detailed proposals, Mr Belder criticises the Commission for not having proposed specific actions to fight discrimination against asylum seekers, refugees and immigrants in the applicant countries. The applicant countries are invited to improve the training of their police and judicial civil services. The European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia should draw up succinct reports for each applicant country indicating the minimum specific measures to be implemented to comply with EU standards on fighting racism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism. The report also insists on (a) efforts to be made in teaching, health care and representation of Rom in public life, (b) measures for the integration and equal treatment of the Russian minorities of Estonia and Latvia. It calls for ongoing social and political vigilance in regard to persistent expressions of anti-Semitism in different applicant countries.
The plenary will also state its view on the reports by Danish Liberal Bertel Haarder on human rights in the EU and Swedish Liberal Cecilia Malmström on human rights in the world (see EUROPE of 4 March, p. 4).