Tag: Discrimination

Three weeks after her initial plan to impose gender quotas on company boards met with strong opposition, EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding unveiled a new proposal. But this time it was criticised for being too weak.

French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault says his country will request “in the following days” holding a European Council meeting to make decisions “at the European level” on the Roma - many of them from Romania and Bulgaria - who settle in illegal camps in France and other countries.

Rights groups have accused France’s Socialist leaders of abandoning electoral promises by continuing the arbitrary expulsions of Eastern European Roma that were begun under former President Nicolas Sarkozy.

The European Commission's upcoming proposal to revise the Schengen rules may encounter stiff resistance from the European Parliament should it unduly threaten the freedom of movement and its legality may be questioned by the European Court of Human Rights should it be deemed discriminatory, argues Zuzanna Warso.

A leading Polish MEP today (2 May) spoke out strongly against Dutch plans to expel EU citizens who make "disproportionate claims" on the social benefit system in the Netherlands, or who have committed "very serious or repeated offences".

The upcoming Hungarian EU Presidency will give the plight of the bloc's Roma minority the attention it deserves by mobilising resources in the 'Europe 2020' strategy, Hungary's Ambassador to the EU Péter Györkös said on 26 November.

A new report from the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) has identified incidents of racism, anti-Semitism and anti-Gypsyism in both amateur and professional football and basketball across the EU 27.

The European Commission has decided to take France to task regarding its summer crackdown on illegal Roma camps, giving Paris until 15 October to prove that its policies comply with EU laws guaranteeing the free circulation of people.

Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding, who was caught in a bitter row with Paris last week over the French government's Roma expulsions, said the European Commission will start a legal procedure against France and several other EU countries for failing to transpose into national law a 2004 directive on the free movement of persons.

Viviane Reding, vice-president of the European Commission responsible for justice and fundamental rights, announced today (14 September) that she will launch a legal procedure against France for discriminating against the Roma. The way Paris has managed the issue is "a disgrace," said Reding in a rare loss of temper.

Romania should not interpret freedom of movement in the EU as a right to get rid of its Roma at the expense of other countries, Pierre Lellouche, the French state secretary for European affairs, told the press yesterday (31 August) in Brussels, triggering a strong reaction from Bucharest.

The European Commission has been remarkably silent over the treatment of Roma by France and Italy, Dominique Moïsi, founder and senior advisor at Ifri (the French Institute for International Relations), told EurActiv in an exclusive interview.

Current tensions over the repatriation of hundreds of Roma from France to Romania should have no repercussions for Bucharest and Sofia's ambitions to join Schengen, the border-free European area, a European Commission spokesperson said yesterday (23 August.)

The European Commission is following very closely France's dealings with its Roma, who the authorities are planning to expel in groups, Commission representatives said yesterday (18 August), after being asked by the Brussels press whether the expulsions were in line with EU legislation.

Roma and human rights groups have given a cautious welcome to a new plan launched by the European Commission this week to improve the social and economic integration of Roma into mainstream society.

Ethnic and religious minorities in Europe continue to suffer from discrimination and prejudice and face disadvantages in a whole host of areas, from employment and education to housing and policing, a report published yesterday (3 December) by the European Network Against Racism (ENAR) reveals.

Current proposals for EU anti-discrimination legislation are too weak when it comes to disability rights and require strong action from the Swedish Presidency, European Disability Forum (EDF) Director Carlotta Besozzi told EurActiv in an interview.

Following complaints by citizens, the European Commission has decided to conduct a thorough analysis of discriminatory provisions adopted by sports federations vis-à-vis non-nationals in the EU 27. Recommendations putting an end to such practices could be ready by the end of 2010. 

The European Commission is discriminating against freelance interpreters who are over 65 by neglecting to offer them work, EU Ombudsman P. Nikiforos Diamandouros said yesterday (15 December), asking MEPs to support his claim. But the EU executive argues such action is justified by the need to provide employment for newly-qualified young staff.

Although discrimination in general has decreased on the European continent in the past years, discrimination based on ethnic origin it is still perceived as widespread, with Roma in particular facing high levels of prejudice, according to a new Eurobarometer.

The European Parliament has reminded Commission President José Manuel Barroso of his commitment to put forward a directive outlawing discrimination on a whole range of grounds, including disability, age, religion or belief and sexual orientation, as Brussels finalises preparations for a social policy package to be presented in June. 

Despite opposition from members of the centre-right EPP-ED Group, the European Parliament's Employment Committee has spoken out in favour of new legislation banning all forms of discrimination.

In a landmark ruling, the European Court of Human Rights has dismissed the Czech Republic's former practice of routinely sending children from the country's Roma minority to special schools, where they acquire much lower levels of qualification than other Czechs.

A government probe into Poland's troubled Communist past has spilled over to Brussels as Polish MEP and former foreign minister Bronislaw Geremek risked losing his mandate over his refusal to sign a certificate stating that he did not collaborate with secret police.