Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions - Implementation, results and overall assessment of the 2007 European Year of Equal Opportunities for All {SEC(2009)781}
Date: 2009-06-19
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU policy, EU programme, European social policy, anti-discriminatory measure, equal treatment, gender equality, public awareness campaign, social integration

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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 19.6.2009 
COM(2009) 269 final 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL, THE 
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL 
COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS 

Implementation, results and overall assessment of the 2007 European Year of Equal 
Opportunities for All 

{SEC(2009)781} 

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TABLE OF CONTENTS 

1. 

Introduction .................................................................................................................. 3 

1.1.  What is the purpose of this Communication? .............................................................. 3 

1.2.  Why an EYEO and what did it set out to achieve? ...................................................... 3 

2. 

2.1. 

2.2. 

3. 

3.1. 

3.2. 

4. 

Implementation ............................................................................................................ 4 

Implementation of the EYEO at national level ............................................................ 5 

Implementation of the EYEO at EU level.................................................................... 7 

Legacy and sustainability............................................................................................. 8 

In the participating countries........................................................................................ 8 

At EU level................................................................................................................. 10 

Conclusion.................................................................................................................. 12 

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1. 

INTRODUCTION  

1.1.  What is the purpose of this Communication?  

In  2006  the  Council  and  the  European  Parliament  reaffirmed  their  conviction  that  non-
discrimination  is  a  fundamental  principle  of  the  European  Union  by  designating  2007 
European Year of Equal Opportunities for All (hereinafter 'EYEO'). The EYEO was designed 
to  raise  awareness  of  everyone's  right  to  a  life  free  from  discrimination,  based  on  the 
extensive  body  of  rights  and  obligations  set  out  in  the  EC  directives,  and  of  the  need  to 
develop EU and Member State tools to promote real equality.  

In accordance with the Decision establishing the EYEO1, this Communication reports on the 
results and achievements, assesses the extent to which it met its objectives and examines the 
results to see if they are sustainable. 

It focuses on: 

- the underlying challenges and the corresponding objectives which the EYEO was intended 
to meet;  

-  the  EYEO's  practical  and  financial  implementation,  based  on  the  independent  evaluation 
report2 and having regard to the requirements set out in the Decision; and 

- the EYEO's sustainable results at national and EU level to assess how these can be applied 
to take up the heightened challenges facing the EU. 

1.2.  Why an EYEO and what did it set out to achieve?  

(a) The challenges  

The  idea  of  an  EYEO  was  first  put  forward  by  the  Commission  as  part  of  a  framework 
strategy3  for  tackling  discrimination,  which  drew  attention  to  the  challenges  to  the  further 
development of the EU's approach to non-discrimination outlined below. 

Legislation 
While the Directives4 adopted since 2000 on the basis of Article 13 of the Treaty5 are seen as 
bringing  major  progress,  only  very  limited  number  of  people  was  aware  of  their  rights  and 

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Decision No 771/2006/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 May 2006 establishing 
the  European  Year  of  Equal  Opportunities  for  All  (2007)  —  towards  a  just  society  (Text  with  EEA 
relevance), OJ L 146, 31.5.2006, p. 1. 
On-going  evaluation  of 
the  2007  European  Year  of  Equal  Opportunities 
http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?langId=en&catId=89&newsId=483&furtherNews=yes. 
'Non-discrimination and equal opportunities for all: A framework strategy' - COM(2005) 224. 
Council Directives 2000/43/EC of 29 June 2000 implementing the principle of equal treatment between 
persons irrespective of racial or ethnic origin (OJ L 180, 19.7.2000, p. 22), 2000/78/EC of 27 November 
2000 establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation (OJ L 303, 
2.12.2000, p. 16) and 2004/113/EC of 13 December 2004 implementing the principle of equal treatment 
between men and women in the access to and supply of goods and services (OJ L 373, 21.12.2004, p. 
37). 

for  All  – 

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obligations. Furthermore, such actors as lawyers, NGOs and social partners who are crucial in 
assisting  victims  and  implementing  the  Directives  on  the  ground  often  lacked  the  necessary 
knowledge and capacity.  

Policy 

Beyond  ensuring  the  formal  right  to  non-discrimination,  many  structural  barriers  remained: 
these  included  deeply  embedded  stereotypes  concerning  —  and  lack  of  participation  by  — 
groups  at  risk  of  discrimination.  Furthermore,  where  those  barriers  had  been  tackled,  the 
approach had been confined to each specific ground for discrimination, even though there was 
a growing understanding that this did not reflect the reality of individual experience. As many 
of  the  challenges  and  approaches  to  meet  them  were  common  to  the  various  grounds  for 
discrimination, much could be gained from a cross-ground approach based on joint analysis 
and dialogue. Last but not least, it was felt that the EU could play a bigger role in collecting 
and presenting transferable good practice to break down these complex structural barriers.  

(b) The EYEO as a way of taking up the challenges 

The EYEO Decision set out to address the challenges through four objectives: these were the 
'four  "R"s',  namely  'Rights'  (corresponding  to  the  legislative  challenges),  'Representation', 
'Recognition'  and  'Respect'  (corresponding  to  the  policy  challenges).  The  co-legislators  also 
set out the following three implementation principles, which are described more fully in the 
next section:  

- balanced treatment of grounds with the focus on multiple discrimination and an obligation to 
mainstream gender across all activities; 

- decentralised implementation through national plans and action taking national, regional and 
local differences into account; and, 

- close involvement of civil society and social partners.  

The  results  of  the  EYEO  must  therefore  be  assessed  in  the  light  of  those  objectives  and 
principles (section II) and in terms of their sustainability (section III).  

2. 

IMPLEMENTATION  

This section outlines the implementation of the EYEO at national and EU level, building on 
an external evaluation6. Additional facts and figures are presented in the Annex. 

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Inserted into the EC Treaty by the Amsterdam Treaty, Article 13 EC provides that the Community may 
take appropriate action to combat discrimination based on sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, 
disability, age or sexual orientation. 
The evaluation, which was carried out by Rambøll Management SA, included 10 country case studies 
covering  Belgium,  Denmark,  Finland,  Ireland,  Lithuania,  Poland,  Romania,  Slovakia,  Spain  and  the 
United Kingdom, as well as four thematic reports focusing on the way three grounds for discrimination 
(age, race/ethnicity and sexual orientation) and gender mainstreaming were addressed across all EYEO 
actions and activities. 

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2.1. 

Implementation of the EYEO at national level  

(a) The EYEO in figures 

Actions on the ground 

434  actions  were  implemented  across  the  30  participating  countries7.  Their  number  and 
scale  varied  considerably,  ranging  from  three  in  Belgium8  to  49  in  France9.  They  generated 
around 1 600 outputs10, which consisted of more than 1 000 meetings and events, around 440 
national-level  campaigns  and  over  120  studies  and  surveys.  The  grounds  of  race/ethnicity 
(61%  of  all  actions)  and  gender  (62%)  were  those  most  frequently  addressed.  In  addition, 
‘moral’  support11  was  granted  to  over  1 700  additional  activities  that  were  in  line  with  the 
EYEO's objectives.  

The fact that so many requests were made to use the logo and other materials pertaining to 
the EYEO was a clear indication of its added value. Almost all the Final Activity Reports 
noted the importance of the actions granted moral support and Cyprus, Italy, Malta, Poland, 
Portugal and Romania gave special emphasis to these. 

Action leaders and partners 

Altogether around 1 000 action leaders and additional partners12, most of whom were national 
authorities  (42%),  NGOs  (25%)  or  other  organisations13  (20%),  were  involved  in  the 
implementation of the 434 core actions. 

Level of implementation and target groups 

The actions (75%) were implemented mainly at national level, and less frequently at regional 
or local level (around 30% each)14. The general public was targeted by around 80% of the 434 
actions,  civil  society,  administrative  authorities  and  media  organisations  by  about  50%,  and 
business leaders by 33%. 

Financial planning and execution 

The co-legislators set a global budget for the EYEO of €15 million , of which €7.65 million 
was  allocated  to  activities  at  national  level.  The  participating  countries  had  to  match  the 
amount received from the EU from public or private sources, bringing the overall estimated 
budget  for  the  27  Member  States  up  to  €15.30  million.  While  most  of  the  30  participating 
countries decided to match the Commission’s 50% co-funding, some planned to provide even 

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As  the  EEA  countries  (Iceland,  Liechtenstein  and  Norway)  also  decided  to  celebrate  the  EYEO  (and 
therefore to comply with the rules), this brought the total number of participating countries to 30. 
The  media  campaign  planned  in  Belgium  was  the  largest  Action  undertaken  in  the  framework  of  the 
EYEO. With a budget of 465,300 € focussing on all six of the defined grounds of the EYEO in relation 
to the themes of Rights, Recognition and Respect. 
France  implemented  the  greatest  number  of  Actions  led  by  a  variety  of  actors  (mostly  NGOs)  and 
implemented more than half of them at the local or regional levels. 
Source: Questionnaire for NIBs (Final evaluation report). 
Actions entitled to use the EYEO logo but which did not receive EU financing. 
Several actions involved more than one partner, hence the higher number. 
Mainly universities, regional and local authorities, businesses and social partners.  
Does not add up to 100% since some Actions were implemented at several levels. 

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more  than  the  requisite  50%,  resulting  in  a  combined  estimated  budget  of  around  €18.5 
million. 

Ultimately,  final  expenditure  on  the  434  actions  implemented  at  national  level  amounted  to 
€15.9 million, or 86% of the original estimated budget.  

All  30  participating  countries  at  least  matched  the  EU  national  grant,  with  the  overall 
percentage  amounting  to  more  than  57%.  As  a  result  of  overestimating  the  costs,  coupled 
with  delays  in  the  planning  phase,  in  the  start  of  the  actions  and  in  the  receipt  of  funding, 
some  countries  spent  less  than  the  amount  budgeted:  overall,  this  was  offset  by  additional 
resources supplied by seven countries.  

(b) Fulfilment of key implementation principles 

Decentralisation and balanced treatment of all grounds for discrimination, which were among 
the principles governing the implementation of the EYEO in the Decision establishing it, were 
key factors in its success. 

Decentralisation 

The Decision specified that the bulk of EYEO actions were to be decentralised. To that end, 
the 30 participating countries were each to designate a National Implementing Body (NIB), 
which  was  generally  a  ministry.  In  a  few  cases,  the  national  equality  body  or  the 
ombudsperson's office was given the task. Staff ranged in number from 15 in Portugal to one 
in Belgium and Norway, with a total of around 100 in charge of implementing the EYEO at 
national level. 

Each  NIB  was  to  design  a national  strategy to implement the EYEO  in close cooperation 
with civil society. For the first time, the Member States were asked to outline the challenges 
facing them in terms of each of the six discrimination grounds covered by Article 13 EC, their 
national  priorities  in  this  respect  and  having  regard  to  the  four  main  objectives  (the  'four 
"R"s'  mentioned  above)  laid  down  by  the  EYEO  Decision,  and  a  list  of  individual  actions 
selected for EU co-funding. 

The  general  perception  was  that  decentralisation  of  implementation  enhanced  the  EYEO's 
relevance by allowing the general objectives (the 'four "R"s') to be refocused on, and adapted 
to, the national context.  

In addition, action leaders were able to refer directly to an NIB with special understanding of 
the  national  context,  and  actors  who  operated  solely  in  the  national  language  could  be 
included. The country case-study reports from Denmark, Ireland, Lithuania, Romania, Spain 
and Slovakia found that the decentralised approach had facilitated:  

- actions that were close to the citizen and that therefore reflected social realities; 
-  opportunities  for  communication  and  cooperation  within  a  group  comprising  several 
organisations representing different grounds for discrimination;  
- identification of smaller NGOs and their empowerment for participation. 

Balanced treatment of all grounds 

The Decision called for all grounds for discrimination to be treated, as far as possible, in a 
balanced  way.  This  was  translated  by  most  of  the  participating  countries  into  calls  for 
proposals dealing with at least two or three grounds at the same time. 

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This cross- or multi-ground approach fostered cooperation between:  

•  national, regional and local authorities responsible for the various discrimination grounds, 

and  

•  NGOs representing the various groups discriminated against at national, regional and local 

level. 

The EYEO was the first initiative in which gender was considered not only in its own right 
but in relation to the other five grounds specified in Article 13 EC. As a result, some countries 
supported actions focusing on women facing multiple discrimination, such as women from 
minorities  (in  particular  Roma  women)  and  older  women  with  disabilities,  who  are  more 
likely to suffer from discrimination than their male counterparts.  

2.2. 

Implementation of the EYEO at EU level  

Involving the key actors 

The EYEO Decision provided for an Advisory Committee to be set up with members from 
each of the 30 participating countries. It met seven times from June 2006 to July 2008. 

Through advocacy and awareness-raising activities, organisations representing and defending 
people  exposed  to  discrimination  play  a  vital  role  in  making  anti-discrimination  rights 
effective. Involving civil society in the design and implementation of the EYEO activities was 
therefore crucial. The Commission held regular discussions with NGOs and social partners 
within an Advisory Group, which met six times from June 2006 to July 2008. 

EYEO opening and closing conferences 

The EYEO opening conference, which was hosted by the German Presidency of the Council, 
and the first-ever Equality Summit15, held in Berlin at the end of January, drew an attendance 
of 530. Nearly 700 participants attended the EYEO closing conference in Lisbon on 19 and 
20 November, where they discussed the EYEO's achievements and legacy. The discussion fed 
into the Council conclusions on the EYEO (see below). Participants at both the opening and 
the closing conferences represented a broad variety of decision-makers and stakeholders from 
all 30 participating countries as well as high-level representatives of the European institutions 
and civil society. 

'European Parliament of Equal Opportunities' 

Both  the  European  Parliament  and  individual  MEPs  from  a  number  of  committees  and 
political  groups  played  a  crucial  role  in  the  EYEO.  Parliament  and  the  Commission  jointly 
organised a 'European Parliament of Equal Opportunities for All', a forum for dialogue with 
civil  society  on  eliminating  discrimination  and  promoting  equal  opportunities  for  all  in 
employment  and  outside,  which  was  held  at  Parliament's  premises  in  Brussels  on  11  and 
12 October.  Both  institutions  reaffirmed  their  commitment  to  introducing  measures  to 
improve  the  implementation  and  widen  the  scope  of  existing  EU  legal  provisions  providing 
protection  from  discrimination  on  all  Article 13  grounds.  MEPs  took  part  in  EU-wide  and 
national activities, such as the Diversity Truck Tour, which set off from Strasbourg in April 
2007.  

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COM(2005)224. 

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Eurobarometer surveys  

Three  comprehensive  Eurobarometer  surveys16  on  public  perception  of  discrimination, 
equality  and  diversity  provided  factual  backing  for  the  debate  and  the  EYEO's  activities. 
National fact-sheets produced in 22 EU languages helped to identify the challenges at national 
level. One question on awareness of the EYEO across the 27 Member States yielded a good 
indication  of  the  impact  of  the  European  and  national  campaigns  and  events:  37%  of  the 
27 147 respondents to Flash Eurobarometer survey 23217 had heard of the EYEO.  

EU-wide information and educational campaign 

The EU-wide information and promotional campaign made use of various instruments: 

•  the  official  EYEO  website18:  since  most  sections  were  translated  into  22  EU  languages, 
this  was  readily  accessible;  it  was  viewed  by  an  average  of  74 578  viewers  per  month, 
giving a total of 894 934; 

•  the EU-wide campaign material was produced in 22 languages: it comprised a leaflet, a 
postcard,  a  'We  are  Europe'  poster  and  promotional  stands  for  each  NIB  and  for  the 
Commission; and, 

•  over  700  consignments  of  printed  information,  promotional  material  and  stands  were 

delivered to NIBs, national correspondents, NGOs and public authorities. 

The Commission's representations and delegations provided significant input by participating 
in high-level national events and hosting events on their premises. The Europe Direct network 
was also involved in Cyprus, Finland and Romania. 

3. 

LEGACY AND SUSTAINABILITY 

Will the results of the EYEO be taken forward and sustained? 

3.1. 

In the participating countries  

While a European Year can naturally only last 12 months, it may have a longer-term impact at 
national level, in particular in three main ways. 

(a) Consolidation of national policies/activities 

Out of  30 NIBs, 25 believed that national strategies would not  have been drawn  up if  there 
had been no EYEO, and 23 thought that their national strategies had resulted in considerably 
more  anti-discrimination,  equal  opportunities  and  diversity  activities  and  initiatives  than 
would have taken place otherwise. 

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The Special Eurobarometer 263, “Discrimination in the European Union”, published in January 2007, 
the Special Eurobarometer 296, “Discrimination in the European Union – Perceptions, experiences and 
attitudes”, published in July 2008 and the Euroflash 232, published in February 2008 
http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/flash/fl_232_en.pdf.  
http://equality2007.europa.eu.  

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When the EYEO concluded, 72% of the action leaders expected their actions to continue or be 
repeated  after  the  EYEO  ended.  338  action  leaders  said  they  had  developed  new  forms  of 
cooperation  or  had  strengthened  existing  cooperation  structures  as  a  result  of  action 
undertaken  as  part  of  the  EYEO.  In  addition,  88%  of  action  leaders  who  had  developed 
concepts and materials expected them to remain in use after the EYEO ended.  

(b) Stronger cooperation with civil society 

Not  only  was  the  drafting  of  national  strategies  an  achievement  in  itself  but  it  also  clearly 
strengthened  cooperation  within  government  authorities  and  civil  society  organisations  and 
between them. 

18 NIBs (Austria, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Hungary, 
Ireland,  Italy,  Latvia,  Luxembourg,  Netherlands,  Poland,  Portugal,  Slovakia,  Slovenia  and 
Sweden)  considered  that  the  EYEO  had  resulted  in  new  or  improved  cooperation  with  and 
between  NGOs,  civil  society  and  the  social  partners,  and  between  groups  and  institutions 
which  would  not  have  been  working  together  today  without  the  impetus  provided  by  the 
EYEO.  

More  than  140  networks,  involving  various  branches  of  government,  equality  bodies, 
organisations and civil society were generated as a direct result of the EYEO. Most of them 
(95) were expected to continue in the coming years. 

(c) Emergence of new issues 

In  some  countries  the  EYEO  was  a  chance  to  focus  on  grounds  for  discrimination  that  had 
either never been tackled previously or not been tackled as seriously as the other grounds. 

Thanks  to  the  EYEO,  an  information  gap  was  filled  when  21  countries  conducted  studies 
specifically on age discrimination. AGE, the European Older People’s Platform, noted that 
the EYEO had 'succeeded in raising awareness of what is a relatively new ground — age'19: 
the EYEO heralded a breakthrough in several countries, where age discrimination became 
a topic in public debate for the first time.  

Many  actions  dealt  with  racial  and  ethnic  discrimination:  the  EYEO  was  instrumental  in 
addressing the most striking issues and needs identified at national and EU level in this area. 
It  also  helped  to  draw  attention  to  the  challenges  facing  Roma  people:  12 actions 
implemented  in  10  participating  countries,  including  a  large  Roma  component,  helped  to 
improve awareness of their situation across Europe. 

The requirement in the EYEO Decision to combat all grounds for discrimination in a balanced 
way  meant  not  only  that  a  large  number  of  actions  addressed  sexual  orientation 
discrimination  and  some  countries  paid  more  attention  to  the  issue,  but  also  that  some 
countries tackled this type of discrimination for the first time. The EYEO also succeeded in 
putting transgender issues on the political agenda. 

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http://www.age-platform.org/EN/IMG/AGE_assessment_of_European_Year.pdf.  

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3.2. 

At EU level  

(a) A firm, practical policy commitment 

In December 2007 the EPSCO Council adopted a comprehensive Resolution20 on follow-up 
to  the  EYEO,  which  welcomed  the  initiatives  started  and  set  priorities  for  the  future.  The 
December  2007  European  Council  endorsed  the  results  of  the  EYEO  and  added  a  specific 
focus  on  the  need  for  the  EU  and  the  Member  States  to  step  up  work  on  promoting  Roma 
inclusion. On 2 July 2008, as part of the renewed Social Agenda21 the Commission adopted a 
set of measures to combat discrimination comprising: 

•  a new proposal for a directive on equal treatment prohibiting discrimination on grounds of 
age, disability, sexual orientation and religion or belief outside the field of employment; 

•  a Communication 'Non-discrimination and equal opportunities: A renewed commitment', 
which  sets  out  a  comprehensive  approach  to  stepping  up  action  against  discrimination 
involving: 

– 

more  effective  use  of 

instruments  available,  such  as  non-discrimination 
mainstreaming,  positive  action,  action  to  measure  discrimination  and  evaluate  progress, 
awareness-raising, and training and activities promoting diversity at the workplace; 

the 

– 

giving  new  impetus  to  the  dialogue  on  non-discrimination  policy  targeted  at  both 

national authorities and civil society; 

•  a Commission Decision setting up a non-discrimination governmental expert group22 to 
examine the impact of national and EU-level non-discrimination measures, validate good 
practice  through  peer  learning  and  develop  benchmarks  to  evaluate  the  effectiveness  of 
non-discrimination policies; 

•  a  Commission  Staff  Working  Paper  on  Community  instruments  and  policies  for  Roma 

inclusion. 

This  set  of  measures  was  based  to  a  large  extent  on  experience  gained  and  demands  put 
forward  during  the  EYEO,  and  in  particular  the  national  strategies  and  the  actions  they 
entailed,  discussion  at,  and  the  conclusions  of,  the  EYEO  opening  and  closing  conferences, 
and the many national events. The proposal for a new Article 13 directive was put forward on 
the  basis  of  a  comprehensive  impact  assessment,  which  significantly  reflected  debate  and 
events during the EYEO.  

(b) Harnessing the impetus of the EYEO in a time of crisis  

With unemployment rising and risk poverty and exclusion increasing in the current economic 
recession, the EU and the Member States need to stand by and strengthen their commitment to 
equality and non-discrimination. History has shown how fear and hardship can be exploited 
and give rise to persecution of minority groups and the violation of fundamental rights.  

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Council  Resolution  on  the  follow-up  of  the  European  Year  of  Equal  Opportunities  for  All  (2007), 
http://register.consilium.europa.eu/pdf/en/07/st15/st15383.en07.pdf. 
‘A renewed social agenda: Opportunities, access and solidarity in 21st century Europe’ - COM(2008) 
412 final.  
Decision C(2008) 3261. 

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Understanding the situation  

The first step that the EU and the Member States need to take to prevent the current situation 
from  leading  to  breaches  of  rights  and  higher  structural  barriers  is  access  to  accurate 
information on what is happening on the ground. A lack of comparable data across the EU on 
the  situation  of  groups  at  risk  of  discrimination  is  hampering  a  sound  understanding  and 
proper monitoring of the situation.  

The  Commission  will  conduct  a  Eurobarometer  survey  on  perceptions  of  discrimination  in 
mid-2009 with a view to comparing the trends emerging from surveys carried out prior to and 
directly following the EYEO. This  will  supplement  the  comprehensive  data-collection  work 
carried  out  by  the  Fundamental  Rights  Agency.  The  Commission  is  also  exploring  the 
possibility,  with  the  national  statistical  authorities,  of  collecting  statistics  regularly  on  the 
scale and impact of discrimination and/or drawing up an EU survey module on experienced 
discrimination. 

Ongoing dialogue with the European umbrella civil-society networks23 on the various grounds 
for  discrimination  covered  by  Article  13  and  Equinet  (the  European  Network  of  Equality 
Bodies), which was set up during the EYEO, will help the Commission to obtain up-to-date 
reports of violations of rights. Similarly, the dialogue which the Commission has established 
with the Member States as a direct result of the EYEO will permit direct exchanges with them 
on developments throughout the EU.  

Responding to violations and finding solutions  

In  the  recent  past  the  Commission  has  firmly  condemned  any  violations  of  fundamental 
rights, including the perpetration of racist or homophobic acts and the expression of racist or 
homophobic attitudes. As the guardian of the Treaties, it closely monitors the observance of 
rights  and  will  follow  up  any  breaches  of  Community  law  carefully.  Early  adoption  by  the 
Council of the proposal for an Article 13 directive would therefore send a strong signal of the 
EU's commitment to fundamental rights and equality.  

Ongoing dialogue with the Member States and civil society that draws on experience during 
the  EYEO  will  also  help  to  identify  policy  responses  and  good  practice  in  anticipating  and 
combating discrimination in the current economic and social climate. The Equality Summit to 
be  organised  by  the  Swedish  Presidency  in  autumn  2009  is  expected  to  tackle  the  issue  of 
action  to  deal  with  non-discrimination  against  the  backdrop  of  the  crisis  and  to  give  clear 
guidance to the Member States and the stakeholders on the issues to address most urgently in 
these challenging times. 

Thanks to the EYEO, action to raise awareness of existing rights and obligations and combat 
stereotypes was intensified by the campaign at EU level and by numerous national activities. 
On  the  basis  of  the  lessons  learned  and  in  close  cooperation  with  EU  and  national 
stakeholders, the Commission is stepping up its awareness-raising activities24 to ensure access 
to  accurate  information  and  send  a  clear  signal  that  discrimination  and  stereotyping  are 
unacceptable as well as being detrimental to economic recovery.  

23 
24 

AGE, EDF, ENAR, ERIO, EWL, ILGA and YFJ. 
http://www.stop-discrimination.info. 

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Specifically addressing Roma inclusion  

In  times  of  economic  crisis,  the  Roma  appear  to  be  at  risk  of  increased  discrimination.  The 
Commission's  comprehensive  report  on  Community  instruments,  presented  in  July  2008  in 
response to a request from the December 2007 European Council, fed into a high-level Roma 
Summit  organised  by  the  Commission  and  held  in  September  2008.  The  Summit  and  the 
report, which generated intense debate, led to an agreement among the stakeholders to step up 
efforts to foster Roma inclusion.  

While  the  Commission  took  the  lead  in  this  process,  action  by  national,  regional  and  local 
authorities was needed to generate real progress on the ground. The December 2008 European 
Council  endorsed  the  comprehensive  conclusions  of  the  General  Affairs  Council  meeting25 
confirming the Member States' commitment to using the tools available, such as the Structural 
Funds,  to  support  Roma  inclusion,  and  decided  to  stage  a  second  Roma  Summit  under  the 
Spanish Presidency on International Roma Day on 8 April 2010.  

To  prepare  for  the  event  and  ensure  a  lively  debate,  the  contributions  of  all  actors  will  be 
presented  at  a  Roma  platform.  A  comprehensive  report  ahead  of  the  Summit  will  be 
supplemented by a broad study of successful policies and programmes, to be carried out by 
the  Commission  in  the  wake  of  the  EYEO.  The  platform's  first  meeting,  organised  by  the 
Czech Presidency and the Commission, was held in April 2009.  

4. 

CONCLUSION  

The  ambitious,  forward-looking  Decision  establishing  the  EYEO  set  strict  requirements  to 
ensure that the financial and human resources allocated to it would produce substantial added 
value. In spite of the relatively short preparatory period from its adoption in May 2006 to the 
start of 2007, the EYEO managed to fulfil the requirements set in terms of budget execution 
and  material  implementation  principles  (balanced  treatment  of  grounds,  decentralisation, 
involvement of civil society and the social partners and a focus on multiple discrimination and 
gender  mainstreaming)  and  generated  an  impressive  number  of  financially  and  morally 
supported actions.  

The  most  important  factor  in  the  EYEO's  success  was  the  political  commitment  of  the 
Member  States,  the  European  institutions  and  civil  society.  The  Member  States  not  only 
allocated  considerable  resources  to  practical  implementation  but  were  also  prepared  — 
sometimes for the first time — to discuss the situation openly regarding the six discrimination 
grounds  in  their  countries  and  subsequently  to  draw  up  public  strategies  for  tackling  the 
challenges  identified.  The  Commission  carried  out  its  task  of  establishing  a  framework  for 
implementation with the political backing of the European Parliament and the Council. Civil 
society  at  EU  and  national  level  fully  embraced  the  project  and  allocated  a  significant 
proportion of their scarce resources to its implementation.  

In  addition  to  meeting  the  overall  aim  of  raising  awareness  of  rights  and  obligations  in  the 
existing  legal  framework,  the  EYEO  triggered  a  debate  on  breaking  down  the  barriers 
between  the  six  discrimination  grounds.  The  debate  fed  into  the  Commission's  decision  to 
adopt a new proposal for an Article 13 directive to even out the protection afforded across the 
grounds and fostered a standing debate with the Member States and the stakeholders that will 

25 

Council document 15976/1/08 REV 1, paragraphs 10-14. 

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help the EU to develop a policy to achieve equality and allow each individual to realise his or 
her  potential.  These  achievements  will  contribute  to  dispelling  the  fears  and  prejudices  that 
the  financial  and  economic  crisis  may  arouse  and  to  countering  the  setting-up  of  new 
discriminatory barriers that could increase exclusion and hamper economic recovery. 

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