Debate: The Anti-racism protests following the death of George Floyd
Date: WEDNESDAY, 17 JUNE 2020
Speaker: Ursula von der Leyen
Language: EN

Je n’ai jamais fait l’expérience d’être traitée différemment pour la seule raison de mon apparence. Je ne sais pas ce que c’est que d’être traitée avec soupçon jour après jour dans la rue ou en faisant mes courses, à la recherche d’un emploi ou d’un nouveau logement, comme notre collègue nous l'a tout juste raconté. C'est incroyable! La plupart d’entre nous dans cette salle ne le savent pas, mais nous savons une chose: beaucoup de gens, eux, le savent et ils nous disent à pleine gorge que nous tolérons le racisme depuis beaucoup trop longtemps. Cela doit cesser. Mesdames et Messieurs les députés, les gens qui manifestent dans nos rues, dans nos pays, des deux côtés de l’Atlantique et dans le monde entier élèvent leur voix, désireux de se faire entendre. Il est grand temps de faire plus qu’écouter, plus que condamner, il est temps de parler du racisme ouvertement et honnêtement et voilà pourquoi je tiens à vous remercier d’avoir inscrit ce point à l’ordre du jour de la session plénière et de l’avoir mis à la première place de votre session. Honourable Members, as a society, we need to confront reality. We relentlessly need to fight racism and discrimination: visible discrimination, of course, but also more subtle racism and discrimination – our unconscious biases. All sorts of racism and discrimination! In the justice system and law enforcement; in our labour market and the housing market; in education and healthcare; in politics and migration. We should join forces at all levels: European, national, regional, local, public and private, business and civil society, and each of us individually, as citizens, to build a Europe that is more equal and more humane, more fair. And let me be very clear: in our Union there is no place for racism or any kind of discrimination. This is for sure. And honourable Members, together, we need to answer difficult questions: why do racism and discrimination endure in our societies? Why are there political parties supporting xenophobia and racism that win elections? Why are members of ethnic and religious minorities underrepresented in political, social and academic institutions – and overrepresented in poverty, illness and law-enforcement statistics? What can we do in the fields of education, employment, healthcare, housing and more, to build an open, fairer and more conscious society? What can we do so that our institutions better represent the diversity of our European societies? This is not the work of a sectoral policy, of a single person, or of a single Commissioner. This is why I am here, as President of the European Commission. I want to get to the bottom of these questions. Next week, we will have a structured debate on racism in the College and let us look around here in this very Chamber. The diversity of our society is not represented and I will be the first to admit things are not better in the College of Commissioners or among the European Commission staff. And this is why I say we need to talk about racism and we need to act. It is always possible to change direction if there is a will to do so. Let me take one small example of a small step in the right direction that I witnessed when I was Defence Minister in my home country. At the time, in the German armed forces, a recruiting system had been in place for decades that always favoured the same. We had some excellent candidates who would bring valuable assets to our armed forces – sometimes rare assets, like speaking Arabic or Farsi – and yet, somehow, those assets were not valued. Not at all. And in a mission abroad, such skills could save comrades’ lives. But at the time, the attitude was: ‘Ah, but the system does not allow for this and we have never done this before.’ But then, analysis and reflection started and finally led the German armed forces to change the recruiting system and it was for the better of the German armed forces, it was for the better for society! It has now become a fairer system for those soldiers, so we can change if there is the political will behind it. There is a way to do it. We need to talk about racism with an open mind. The good news is: we do not start from scratch. In the European Union, discrimination is prohibited at the highest possible legal level: I mean our Treaty, our Charter of Fundamental Rights, both on grounds of race and ethnic origin. We also have European laws against racism, ethnic discrimination and hate speech: our Racial Equality Directive; our Framework Decision on combating forms of expressions of racism and xenophobia, to name just a few. We have cooperation tools involving experts from all Member States, a High-Level Group on combating racism, xenophobia and other forms of intolerance, and a European Network of Equality Bodies. Here again, to name just a few. And we have European funds. But we need to try harder. I am glad to live in a society that condemns racism. But we should not stop there. If we encounter it, we must sound the alarm and act immediately. And we must be aware that vigilance and awareness begin on a very small scale, with each and every one of us. Awareness includes examining ourselves. Awareness includes speaking up in cases of discrimination. Awareness includes questioning privileges we may take for granted, which are anything but.  The motto of our European Union is: ‘United in diversity’. Our task is to live up to these words, and to fulfil their meaning, and this is why I am looking forward to listening to you for a better Europe. United in diversity.