WRITTEN QUESTION E-2961/00 by Daniela Raschhofer (NI) to the Council. Right-wing extremism in the Member States.
Date: 2000-09-25
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Austria, National Socialism, judicial cooperation in criminal matters in the EU

C 151 E/30

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

22.5.2001

(2001/C 151 E/038)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2961/00

by Daniela Raschhofer (NI) to the Council

(25 September 2000)

Subject: Right-wing extremism in the Member States

Austria has a law subjecting any form of national socialist revival activity to criminal prosecution
(1947 prohibition statute, StGBl. No 13/1945, BGBl. No 25/1947); this law ranks equally with the
constitution.

Paragraphs 3 to 3i list the various criminal offences and matching penalties. Penalties range, according to
the offence, from one year to life imprisonment. Responsibility for implementing the procedure rests with
the district courts sitting as jury courts.

Will the Council state:

(cid:129) which Member States have comparable legislation?

(cid:129) what differences exist between the Member States in terms of offences and penalties?

(cid:129) whether it is necessary in the light of common European values to prosecute national socialist revival

activity as a criminal offence?

The Council is asked to forward to the author, where appropriate, the various comparable laws.

Reply

(22 December 2000)

The Council would like to inform the Honourable Parliamentarian that the specific information she has
sought in her Question, concerning criminal offences and penalties in operation in the Member States, is
not available within the Council at this stage.

The Council would, however, assure the Honourable Parliamentarian that the Council and the Presidency
are committed to ensuring that criminal offences carried out for a racist or xenophobic purpose are dealt
with in the Member States effectively and in a manner that reflects their seriousness. In that context, the
Council might mention that the conclusions of the Tampere European Council recognised the need to step
up the fight against racism and xenophobia.

The principal instrument adopted by the Council in relation to criminal offences linked to racism is the
Joint Action of 15 July 1996 concerning action to combat racism and xenophobia. The overall objective of
the Joint Action is to ensure that the Member States can assist each other in that area. In particular, it
requires them to provide that certain forms of racist and xenophobic behaviour are punishable as criminal
offences. Failing that, and pending the adoption of any necessary provisions, Member States are obliged to
derogate from the principle of double criminality for such behaviour. The Joint Action is also designed to
remove the risk that the perpetrators of racist or xenophobic offences might seek to exploit the fact that
racist and xenophobic activities may be classified differently in Member States.

In May 1998, the Council examined a report on the fulfilment of the Joint Action by the Member States.
The report concluded that the Member States had implemented the Joint Action to a very significant
degree and the Council directed that a further review should take place in the year 2000. The Presidency is
currently making arrangements to enable the review to be carried out. That exercise will assist the Council
in assessing the overall effectiveness of the Joint Action and whether it needs to be strengthened.