Debate: Fighting against antisemitism, racism and hatred across Europe
Date: TUESDAY, 11 FEBRUARY 2020
Speaker: Věra Jourová
Language: EN

It is the duty of the EU to prevent history from repeating itself and to uphold the values upon which the Union is based. The Holocaust has shown us where anti-Semitism and racism can lead and its memory is at the very core of the European project of a Europe that protects its Jewish communities and all other minorities.  We have seen that fear and hatred against ‘the other’ has become normalised in recent years. It flourishes in mainstream media, in political debate and in the online world. It is a major challenge to our whole society and not only to the affected communities. The anti-Semitic attack against the synagogue in Halle is only the most recent example but, on a daily basis, minorities become victims of hatred online and offline.  It has been a key priority for the EU to ensure first and foremost the correct transposition and implementation of the relevant EU legislation, including the Racial Equality Directive, the Employment Equality Directive and the Framework Decision on racism and xenophobia. The Commission has been working closely together with Member State authorities and civil society in the EU High-Level Group on combating racism and xenophobia to ensure the effective application of the rules against hate speech and hate crime by the whole enforcement chain. The developed tools will assist Member States in strengthening a practical response to implement. Dedicated formats of the high-level group will ensure in the future that the tools are implemented by Member States to make tangible progress in recording and responding to hate crime and hate speech. In particular, as regards hate speech, the Commission has pushed for stronger action; it initiated the code of conduct on combating illegal hate speech online whereby major IT companies have committed to review flagged hate speech within 24 hours and remove content when necessary. Fast progress has been achieved. In 2016, only 28% of the content was removed. Now it is above 70%, and 89% of the notices are assessed within the committed period.  We regularly monitor the progress. Next month we will present the results of the fifth monitoring exercise carried out together with civil society organisations. We managed to bring together all actors from civil society, IT companies and state authorities to strengthen our response to hate speech online. Our two coordinators on combating anti-Semitism and anti-Muslim hatred have been proactively reaching out to Jewish and Muslim communities, and strengthening the collaboration with international organisations, Member States’ authorities and non-governmental organisations. We also intensively work on implementing the EU-Roma strategy containing measures against anti-Gypsyism.  The adoption of the Council Declaration on combating anti-Semitism was a milestone. All Member States unanimously agreed on actions and were invited to develop national strategies. The Commission created a dedicated working group to ensure concrete follow-up to the Council declaration and support Member States and Jewish communities to work together on developing these strategies. We are glad that the incoming German Presidency has announced already their intention to place the fight against anti-Semitism high on the agenda.  Distorting our common history has been one of the trademarks of fanning the flames of hatred and division, be it by third countries or within our own societies. Where today there are attempts to deny or distort the memory of the Holocaust, where people are vilified because they are Jews, this is where Europe is called into question. Attempts to distort our history are threatening our foundations. Disinformation and fake news attack our past but also, and first of all, our present. Our democracies must be harnessed to respond to this challenge and they must themselves adapt. Online platforms have been misused to disseminate and amplify manipulative messages to distort the democratic debate and interfere in the political process.  For four out of five Europeans, disinformation is a problem for democracy. We must ensure that democracy remains well protected in Europe. To better harness our democracy, the Commission will put forward a European democracy action plan. It will help counter disinformation and support free and independent media and will also aim to ensure greater transparency of paid political advertising and provide clearer rules on the financing of EU political parties. Transparency and accountability is essential, as well as not allowing external interventions in our democratic systems by those who wish to divide and destabilise our Union. This is a common priority for the Commission, European institutions and the Member States. As we see minorities under pressure again today, we must raise our voices and redouble our efforts to ensure that Europeans can go about their lives free from the threat of anti-Semitism, racism and xenophobic hatred.  The Commission is looking forward to working with the European Parliament and in particular the Anti-Racism and Diversity Intergroup and the Working Group on Anti-Semitism.