Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-05-18-Speech-4-285"
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"en.20000518.12.4-285"2
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"The Commission’s proposal for a directive on implementing in Europe the principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of racial or ethnic origin clearly shows that it is better to let well alone. This is even truer with regard to the Buitenweg report to the European Parliament.
The proposal initially seemed to be well intentioned as it aimed to improve protection for victims of racism in the European Union. In reality, however, the text before us is so obsessed with hunting down discrimination that it completely loses sight of the basic principles of the rule of law and even, to crown it all, the principle of equal treatment between persons. In addition, the proposal for a directive as usual fails to respect subsidiarity and allow the Member States the necessary room for assessment.
On the issue of the rule of law, it is particularly astonishing to read in Article 8 of the Commission’s text that if, in a given situation, a case of discrimination is assumed, it is the defendant’s responsibility to prove that there has been no violation of the principle of equal treatment. This flouts the traditional principle of our law which states that it is the responsibility of the accuser to provide proof of the culpability of the accused and not the responsibility of the accused to provide proof of his innocence. The effect of such a provision would be all the more devastating as the assumed discrimination could be ‘indirect discrimination’ which occurs, according to Article 2(2)(b), ‘where an apparently neutral provision, criterion or practice is liable to affect adversely a person or a group of persons of a particular racial or ethnic origin’.
However, this dedication to anti-discrimination soon comes to a halt in the Commission’s text as Article 5 states that specific measures may be adopted to compensate for the handicaps of a supposedly disadvantaged ethnic group. This sows the seed for the famous American policy of ‘positive discrimination’ which is nowadays much disputed, even in the USA.
And this is just the Commission’s text which is the most moderate. The European Parliament report adds to this in all respects.
Some people in the Commission seem to be having doubts as they have taken the trouble to add a form to the proposal for a directive which explains the possible impact of the directive on enterprises. This unusual procedure clearly shows that the issue is not cut and dried. In this form, the Commission simply states that “the Directive will strengthen the competitiveness of European companies by ensuring that they have at their disposal a wider pool of skills and resources than at present and that use is made of such skills irrespective of racial or ethnic origin”.
Unfortunately, this statement, which is solely intended to give the authors a clear conscience, is completely false. It is quite clear that employers risk being plagued, particularly in the area of recruitment, with threats from people whose applications have been rejected. Yet it cannot be denied that the immigrants currently entering the European countries are mainly unskilled and come from countries where work experience in businesses such as ours is very scarce. Threatened by this new legislation and in order to keep the peace, employers may be forced to employ people without any real justification which will hinder the competitiveness of their companies.
For all these reasons, we reject the Buitenweg report. We hope that the Council, which must act unanimously pursuant to Article 13 of the EC Treaty, will in turn reject the Commission proposal."@en1
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