Brussels, 11/01/2006 (Agence Europe) - On 9 January, the European Network Against Racism (ENAR) presented a memorandum to the Austrian EU Council Presidency calling on it to ensure that the fight against racism and against any other form of discrimination is kept on the European policy agenda. According to ENAR, the Austrian Presidency should demonstrate its commitment to oppose all forms of racism, and call on the Council and Commission to initiate specific activities and programmes against racism, xenophobia, Islamophobia and anti-Semitism.
ENAR states it is firmly convinced that this second Austrian Council Presidency (the first being in 1998) has the possibility of reactivating European initiatives when it comes to combating racism. This Presidency should “demonstrate leadership and commitment in promoting a vision of an intercultural Europe, free from racism”, ENAR states, recalling that “racism, discrimination and social exclusion are realities that undermine the enjoyment of fundamental rights of everyone living in the European Union”. In its memorandum, the network against racism sets out recommendations in the following areas:
Equality and anti-discrimination. ENAR above all asks the Austrian Presidency to: - promote “levelling up” of anti-discrimination grounds in the context of the Commission's feasibility study; - actively support preparations for the 2007 Year of Equal Opportunities for All and encourage Member States to work closely with national NGOs; - encourage a debate on the concept of “multiple discrimination” in the context of the Commission's forthcoming study and conference on this subject; - and support the work of the High Level Advisory Group on the social and economic inclusion of ethnic minorities, which will meet for the first time under Austrian Presidency.
Freedom, security and justice. ENAR above all calls on the Presidency to work toward the establishment of a European Agency for Fundamental Rights so that it may fully develop its potential to take into account the opinions of the civil society when it comes to mid-term review of the Hague programme, keeping the framework decision on racism and xenophobia on the agenda of the European Council, and to protect human rights and citizens' freedoms in the context of the fight against terrorism, recognising racism - and especially Islamophobia - as sources of exclusion and promoting the rights of all ethnic minority communities. As far as migration and integration are concerned, ENAR calls on the Austrian Presidency to move forward on the protection of third country citizens residing in the EU.
Jobs and growth in Europe. ENAR calls on the Presidency to include on the agenda of the 2006 Spring Summit a discussion on social inclusion, including social inclusion of ethnic minorities. It invites the High Level Advisory Group on economic and social inclusion to take part in this summit and to ensure that the principles of equality and non-discrimination are included in the social and employment policies of the EU, especially in the context of the national Lisbon reform programmes and the adoption of new integrated guidelines.
Mainstreaming anti-racism, equality and human rights. ENAR welcomes the Presidency's intention to reactivate the debate on the future of Europe and the Constitution and urges for the EU accession process to the European Convention on Human Rights to be launched. ENAR also invites the Member States to ratify the revised Social Agenda. The network welcomes the Presidency's initiative to make 2008 the European Year for Intercultural Dialogue. It calls on the Presidency to ensure that the specific needs of women from ethnic minorities are met when it comes to access to healthcare, on the basis of indicators to be developed on the question of women and health.
ENAR also recalls in its memorandum that, since the eighties, the EU institutions have been attacked on several occasions on the question of racism, mainly with the inclusion of Article 13 in the Amsterdam Treaty and the adoption of the directive against racism (2000/43/EC).