Debate: The rise of right-wing extremism and racism in Europe
Date: WEDNESDAY, 20 OCTOBER 2021
Speaker: Helena Dalli
Language: EN

Recently, violent right-wing extremist groups have also used COVID-related conspiracy theories and disinformation to incite violence. In Rome, on 9 October, a neo-fascist group used a demonstration against COVID-related measures to unleash chaos on the city and attack the headquarters of a trade union confederation. These facts also show that hatred, violence and intolerance are not only hiding in the dark corners of the web or in the inner circles of clandestine organisations. They have become more and more mainstream and risk erupting into public violence and undermining the stability of our democracies.  Article 2 of the Treaty of the European Union refers to a union founded on respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities, of course.  I firmly believe that if we are to uphold our fundamental EU values and to apply the fundamental rights enshrined in the Charter, we need a prompt and comprehensive response to the rise of violent extremism, as well as racism and xenophobia. No compromise is possible. This Commission decided to tackle these issues openly and on all fronts. From a legislative perspective, the regulation addressing the dissemination of terrorist content online will oblige internet service providers to remove all forms of terrorist content within one hour of receiving a removal order by an EU Member State, while making sure fundamental rights are respected. At the same time, under the EU Internet Forum, guidance to internet platforms on proscribed violent, right-wing extremist groups, symbols and manifestos, is under preparation to support them in their content moderation efforts.  The Commission is also working with Member States to agree on a common, non-legally binding, working definition of violent right-wing extremism, to facilitate their identification and information-sharing about the phenomenon.  In September 2020, we adopted an EU Anti-racism Action Plan establishing the main policy actions for the next five years. Racism needs to be addressed at all levels of governance and through different measures. That is why the EU Anti-racism Action Plan includes not only legislative measures, but also measures addressing social attitudes, stereotypes and economic concerns. The Action Plan also refers to ongoing Commission initiatives to address extremist propaganda and to support the safety and security of public spaces, like places of worship or other establishments that could be targeted by extremists.  The Commission has appointed a new coordinator on anti-racism because we would like to have a more direct dialogue with communities and civil society. In addition, two weeks ago, the Commission adopted the first-ever EU strategy on combating antisemitism and fostering Jewish life. Antisemitism is incompatible with EU values. Yet, nine out of ten Jews in Europe consider that antisemitism has increased in their country. With this strategy, the Commission is determined to significantly step up the fight against antisemitism. It is Europe’s long-term commitment to a safe, inclusive future for our Jewish communities and Jewish life in all its diversity in the EU.  At the same time, we see increasing evidence of anti-Muslim hatred throughout the EU. Attacks, such as the one in Hanau, were also fuelled by anti-migrant and anti-Muslim sentiments. The European Commission will continue to work with the European Muslim community in a long-term commitment to a safe, inclusive future for our Muslim communities and Muslim life in all its diversity in the EU.  Furthermore, we often observe a continuum between the spread of hate speech or hateful conspiracies circulating online and episodes of violence or hate crime inspired by right-wing extremist ideologies. Racist and xenophobic hate speech is illegal under EU law. The Commission is seeing to the proper transposition and implementation of this legislation through dialogue with Member States and, where needed, infringement procedures. In the last 12 months, the Commission has launched 10 infringement proceedings against Member States. With a view to enhancing the criminal law response to hate crime and hate speech, the Commission is working on an initiative which aims to extend the current list of EU crimes in the treaties to include hate speech and hate crime. To respond to the online dimension of illegal hate speech, the Commission has also developed a voluntary code of conduct with major social media platforms. The code has achieved fast progress on removing online hate speech. We have seen removal rates go up from 28% in our first monitoring in 2016 to a removal rate of up to 71% in 2020. The most recent evaluation, published on 7 October, shows a slight decrease in the average removal rate, while a large majority of the notices were reviewed within the 24-hours prescribed by the code.  The proposal for a Digital Services Act tackles all forms of illegal online content across Member States. All these initiatives have contributed to progress. We constantly speak to Member State authorities, civil society organisations, as well as IT companies to address right-wing violent extremism and its manifestation of intolerance and racism.  There is no single solution or a single actor that can win in isolation. We have to work together and join forces to protect our democracies and protect our common values.