Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-07-03-Speech-3-292"
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"en.20020703.9.3-292"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, on behalf of the Group of the European Liberal, Democrat and Reform Party, I welcome this proposal which aims, with the assistance of legislation, to tackle the growing xenophobia and racism in Europe. This depressing development goes against everything the EU stands for: freedom, democracy, respect for human rights, the Rule of Law. I feel that Mr Ceyhun deserves great praise for his excellent work.
It is vital to work together within the EU to strengthen the protection available to victims of xenophobic and racist crimes and to ensure that those responsible are punished and that we remove the loopholes in the law. It must not be possible for differences in legislation in the various Member States to be exploited by those who commit crimes.
Racism and xenophobia must be tackled on a broad front, as happens in this report. Crimes must be punished and crimes involving xenophobia and racism must be punished even harder. Racism must be considered an aggravating factor when punishment is meted out. It is high time that we in this Parliament and the EU’s institutions sent out a clear and unambiguous message that we will never accept racist outrages occurring in our Europe.
With the help of democracy, we must combat those who stir up their citizens to commit crimes. Our Europe must be a safe place for everyone, regardless of ethnic identity, race, religion or sexual orientation. This is not the case today. We know that many people in Europe currently fear for their own lives and for the safety of their families. They are afraid to go out. They feel threatened. This is totally unacceptable.
This desire of ours to create a society for everyone, without racism and xenophobia – a desire which, while it may be a dream, is an important one to have – must not encroach upon the right of every individual, which is set out in the European Convention on Human Rights, also to be able to express himself freely in speech and writing. I therefore hope to see you support our Amendments Nos 24 and 25 which safeguard the freedom of expression of journalists, artists and others.
Freedom of expression is fundamental and in principle must never be curtailed. In certain Member States, including my own, freedom of expression and freedom of the press are enshrined in the constitution. Naturally, threatening or insulting other people, particularly for racist reasons, can never be allowed. Nor, however, is it clear that punishment is justified in all circumstances. It is a question of balance. I believe that it is important to bring the matter out into the open to be debated. Once the issue sees the light of day, we can put it to rest.
I am therefore a little doubtful about some of Mr Ceyhun’s proposals involving a ban on disseminating xenophobic material and about the proposals which in practice mean that membership of certain organisations may be criminalised. My doubt and my concerns in this case are, however, not great enough to stop me wholeheartedly supporting Mr Ceyhun’s proposal."@en1
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