Racism, xenophobia and hate crimes represent a common concern for the whole European Union (EU) and no member state has a clean record when it comes to them, Vice-President of the EU Commission Viviane Reding said today.
Reding took part in a European Parliament debate devoted to strengthening the fight against hate crime, racism and xenophobia.
The EU justice commissioner cited a recent study by the Union’s Fundamental rights’ agency (FRA) which found thathate crime is a more serious problem in Europe than often recorded. In particular, the report said that hate crimes are “a daily reality” throughout the EU, which not only “harm the victim, they are generally prejudicial to fundamental rights, namely to human dignity and with respect to non-discrimination”.
Reding also emphasised that many of the hate crimes remain unreported and so not prosecuted, while those who commit them-unpunished. In her opinion, this was making the problem even bigger than one could see.
The commission’s vice-president also pointed out that racism, xenophobia and hate crimes, as well as anti-Semitism, Islamophobia anti-gypsyism, were all manifestations “incompatible with European rules” and with “the basis on which Europe is founded”.
Renate Weber, MEP from the ALDE group said that the EU seems to have not enough or not appropriate anti-bodies to fight discrimination and too much tolerance when it comes to hate speech or hate motivated crimes. She believes it is a matter of urgency that the framework decision against racism and xenophobia is revised, to include religious issues and intolerance against Roma.
According to Michael Cashman MEP (S&D,UK) LGBT people fall victims of hate speech and hate crime every day in Europe, and have the same need to see sanctions equalised across the EU. He presented data which says that only in the UK, 2,300 hate crimes were recorded against LGBT people last year. Cashman also asked whether sexual orientation and gender identity will be included in the list of protected grounds for hate crime, once FRA publishes its report on homophobia and transphobia expected in May.
Meanwhile, the European Network Against Racism (ENAR) released a new study exploring how racism manifests itself today and how can racist and xenophobic attitudes and discourses be countered. According to ENAR, racism in Europe takes many forms, but more worryingly, an uninhibited form of racism has emerged, using freedom of expression and ‘white victimhood’ as justifications for promoting exclusion and discrimination.