A4-0478/98

Resolution on the communication from the Commission 'An Action Plan against Racism'(COM(98)0183 - C4-0253/98)

The European Parliament,

- having regard to the Commission communication (COM(98)0183 - C4-0253/98),

- having regard to the Joint Action of 15 July 1996 concerning action to combat racism and xenophobia ((OJ L 185, 24.7.1996, p. 5)),

- having regard to its numerous resolutions on issues concerning the fight against racism, xenophobia and ethnic expulsion,

- having regard to Articles F, 6 and 29 of the Treaty on European Union as amended by the Treaty of Amsterdam, and in particular Article 29 in which preventing and combating racism and xenophobia is seen as a key element in creating an 'area of freedom, security and justice',

- having regard to Article 13 of the EC Treaty as amended by the Treaty of Amsterdam which establishes the Community's power to combat numerous forms of discrimination and is specifically geared towards combating discrimination based on racial or ethnic origin or religion,

- having regard to Article 7 of the Treaty on European Union as amended by the Treaty of Amsterdam on measures to be taken in the event of a serious and persistent breach by a Member State of the principles of democracy and the rule of law,

- having regard to the 'Copenhagen criteria' concerning accession by the countries of central and eastern Europe to the European Union, as laid down by the European Council in Copenhagen in 1993,

- having regard to the 'Charter of European political parties for a non-racist society¨, of the Consultative Committee on Racism and Xenophobia (Kahn Committee),

- having regard to the report of the Committee on Civil Liberties and Internal Affairs and the opinions of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Security and Defence Policy and the Committee on Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (A4-0478/98),

A. whereas specific and practical measures, including anti-discrimination legislation, are appropriate and essential at European level to combat discrimination on the grounds of racial or ethnic origin or religion in order to effectively counteract racism and xenophobia in Europe,

B. whereas the fight against racism needs to be waged in society itself, and whereas support from the authorities should respect the autonomy of voluntary organisations and encourage them to assume responsibility for themselves, to prevent 'state control' of such organisations,

C. whereas the active involvement of victims of discrimination is essential in the fight against racism, both in combating racist utterances and acts as such and in combating various causes of negative stereotyping, such as social and cultural marginalisation, mutual racism and (in some cases) high crime figures,

D. whereas the action plan's choice of a partnership approach is very good; whereas, however, it makes the mistake of not mentioning religious organisations and other organisations founded on a set of beliefs; whereas it would be counterproductive, as far as the fight against racism is concerned, to ignore the extensive network and deep social roots of such organisations,

E. whereas the effectiveness and impact of European networks of voluntary organisations in general requires them to be deeply rooted in society, and whereas it is therefore profitable to build on networks and initiatives which have already been produced by society,

F. being aware of the special tasks and responsibilities of political parties in a democratic process and convinced that free use of one's political rights can and must go hand in hand with firmly upholding the principle of non-discrimination and is inherent in the democratic process itself,

G. whereas the Commission's proposed 'mainstreaming' approach ignores the EU's foreign policy, although such policy - or the lack of it - has on a number of occasions led to a persistence and aggravation of interracial and inter-ethnic tension (e.g. the EU's policy towards the wars in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo),

H. whereas the Starting Line Group's proposals for legislative measures to combat racism and to promote equal rights in the European Union have in principle wide support both inside and outside Parliament,

I. whereas the causes of discrimination enumerated in Article 13 of the Treaty of Amsterdam (sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation) differ significantly in qualitative terms and whereas the areas of society in which discrimination has to be combated (labour market, education, health care, social security, housing and services) also differ qualitatively and hence in the nature of the action required,

J. whereas the Joint Action concerning action to combat racism and xenophobia provides for an approximation of the criminal law of Member States in the main areas (public incitement to racist discrimination, public condoning of crimes against humanity, denial of the holocaust, dissemination of racist and xenophobic material, participation in the activities of groups which involve discrimination, violence or racial, ethnic or religious hatred),

K. whereas existing cooperation programmes such as GROTIUS, for cooperation between courts, OISIN, for cooperation between police forces and ODYSSEUS, in the area of immigration policy, provide a significant opportunity for supporting projects aimed at raising awareness amongst professionals working in the field of preventing racism and xenophobia,

L. whereas, furthermore, any additional legislative measures on criminal law should be deferred, pending submission of the results of the evaluation of the Joint Action, in order to better assess the need for a further approximation of the provisions of criminal law in the Member States,

General

1. Regrets that the Action Plan Against Racism contains few specific proposals with corresponding objectives, time-scales or funding;

2. Recommends the Commission to support political and educational initiatives to assist the acceptance of minority ethnic groups, including the Roma and Sinte, into the societies of Member States and the removal of any obstacles to the performance of religious obligations that do not themselves infringe the rights of others;

3. Welcomes the establishment of the European Network against Racism, co-financed through the European Union, which brings together organisations working to combat racism and to promote equal rights and the adoption of anti-racist legal measures and other activities at European and national levels;

Partnership approach

4. Approves the Commission's choice of a partnership role, whereby the action plan will bring together all the players concerned - citizens, national and local authorities, non-governmental organisations, social partners, the media and sporting bodies - in the fight against racism within the European Union; trusts that the Commission will perform its role its role in these partnerships in a way which respects the independence of the partners in society and believes it is necessary, if the fight against racism is to be effective, to involve religious organisations and other organisations founded on a set of beliefs in this partnership approach;

5. Calls on the Commission to support, in particular, projects of groups suffering discrimination who are fighting racism, to increase their resilience and to counteract the causes of negative stereotyping;

6. Calls on the Commission to continue providing assistance in the future - with a low threshold - to small local NGOs, which often organise dynamic and innovative initiatives aimed at promoting a multicultural, tolerant society and combating racism and xenophobia;

7. Calls on the Commission to respect the independence, creativeness and agenda of voluntary organisations and their networks in order to avoid bureaucratic interference, and calls upon the Commission to pay close attention to the way in which voluntary sector networks interact;

8. Calls upon the political parties in the EU Member States and the European political groups to adopt the Charter of European political parties for a non-racist society and abide by it;

9. Calls on the Commission to submit a report on management of the budget line on combating racism, with particular attention to: the priorities in granting subsidies, the decision-making process involved in this process and the criteria for subsidies, in particular a review of the ceiling of ECU 25 000, and opening up funding possibilities to applicant countries;

Mainstreaming approach

10. Supports the 'mainstreaming' approach proposed by the Commission, but believes it is essential for one single Commission member to bear the main responsibility for combatting racism in general and as the pacesetter for initiatives;

11. Calls on the Commission also to evaluate all existing Community legislation and programmes as a means of developing the mainstreaming approach to combating racism and discrimination; endorses therefore the Commission's intention to adopt a horizontal approach, with all departments reminded of the impact that their policies have on the issue of racism; calls for the same approach to be initiated in the Council Secretariat;

12. Calls for the Commission, in its conditions for subsidies, to make possible the financing of cooperation projects with partners from the applicant countries of Central and Eastern Europe and Cyprus; demands that projects to combat discrimination on grounds of racial and ethnic origins be given higher priority in the allocation of funding under PHARE;

13. Calls on the Commission to submit to the Council and to Parliament a communication on the policy it is pursuing to ensure reasonable representation of racial and ethnic minority groups in its own staff;

Stepping up activities to provide information and raise awareness

14. Stresses the importance of alerting the public to the dangers of racism, which should be at the centre of any consistent strategy to fight racism; believes that primary and secondary pupils and young people should be invited to take part in the Commission's major activities, particularly on television, on the Internet site installed on its EUROPA server for the European Year Against Racism, and the proposed prize for innovative anti-racist projects;

Legislation

15. Welcomes the intention of the Commission to launch without delay a broad debate on the scope for applying the non-discrimination clause of the new Article 13 of the EC Treaty in the version amended by the Treaty of Amsterdam, and the announcement by the Commission that it will submit, before the end of 1999, a proposal for legislation to combat racial discrimination which will take account of key elements of that debate;

16. Calls upon the Commission to use the Starting Line Group proposals as a contribution to its discussions on new legislation to combat racism and to promote equal rights;

17. Calls on the Commission to take account, in the proposals for legislation, of the fundamental differences in the reasons for discrimination as well as the specific nature of discrimination in the different areas of life; calls on the Commission therefore to give preference, in these proposals, to specific rules which precisely cover specific forms of discrimination, rather than general provisions;

18. Calls on the Commission to proceed at the earliest opportunity with a proposal for a directive against racial discrimination under Article 13 of the Amsterdam Treaty; calls on the Council in the meantime to include an article prohibiting discrimination in all new pieces of Community legislation in the social and employment field, as was proposed already by the Commission and Parliament in the directives on parental leave, part-time work and transfer of undertakings;

19. Calls on the Commission, when it draws up binding legal rules, to take steps to ensure that they can actually be used in practice by persons affected; this includes in particular assistance in making use of the opportunities afforded by the law (e.g. by creating independent official bodies granting the persons affected legal and financial aid in asserting their rights, or the creation or extension of opportunities for claiming compensation through the civil courts);

20. Considers that the experience derived from Community legislation and case law on equal treatment between women and men should serve as a model for future legislation against racial discrimination, and that this should therefore include reference to positive action measures, indirect discrimination and burden of proof in cases of discrimination;

21. Calls on the Council to forward to it without delay the results of the evaluation (due before the end of June 1998) of the extent to which the Member States have complied with their obligations pursuant to the abovementioned Joint Action of 15 July 1996;

Policy measures

22. Urges Member States to approve in the 1999 employment guidelines the Commission proposal for a specific guideline referring to the need for special attention to ethnic minorities and active policies to promote their integration into the labour market; and calls on Member States to pay particular attention to measures to overcome vertical and horizontal segregation in their 1999 national action plans;

23. Believes that action taken under the current ESF (including Urban, Youthstart, Adapt, Now) and the Leonardo, Socrates and Youth for Europe programmes must help to combat racism and to support ethnic minorities;

24. Calls on the Commission, in conjunction with the social partners, to draw up a code of conduct on measures to combat race discrimination at the workplace, with a view to establishing policies and practices for improving the integration of ethnic minorities and migrants into the labour market;

25. Calls on the Commission to submit, in cooperation with the Committee of the Regions, which represents regional and local government, to the European Parliament and the Council a proposal for a code of conduct relating to non-discrimination in the housing market, so that a policy may be established to ensure that migrants and ethnic minorities enjoy equal housing rights;

Measures in foreign affairs

26. (a) Calls on the Council, the Commission and the Member States to give special priority in all EU external activities to combating ethnic hatred and racism;

b) Calls on the Council to draw up a common position to ensure a coordinated and coherent EU strategy at the World Conference on Racism to be organised by the United Nations in 2000, giving active support to all initiatives to put an end to this social, cultural and human blight;

c) Reminds the Commission, in the context of accession negotiations, that Parliament takes particular note of the treatment of minorities in applicant countries;

27. Calls on the Council and Commission to point out to third countries that their former subjects have the right to live freely in the society to which they have migrated and to become completely integrated, without suffering any interference from the governments of their countries of origin;

28. Points out the importance of encouraging Community programmes which promote exchanges with third countries in the areas of education, culture and the communications media, as a way of fostering greater mutual understanding and thus combating racist and xenophobic tendencies, particularly among young people.

29. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments and parliaments of the Member States and the countries seeking accession, the Council of Europe and the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia.