Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-09-27-Speech-4-009"
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"en.20070927.3.4-009"2
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"Mr President, Mrs Buitenweg, Members of the House, the Commission welcomes this report on the application of Directive 2000/43/EC of 29 June 2000 implementing the principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of racial or ethnic origin.
The same Eurobarometer study of January 2007 revealed that people felt insufficiently informed about their rights as victims of discrimination. While the level of knowledge varied considerably – between Finland, for example, where 65% of those questioned said they were aware of their rights, and Austria, where the corresponding figure was just 17% – the fact that the average was only 32% clearly shows that, just as you have stated, awareness-raising activities are as necessary as ever.
I am convinced that our current activities, backed up by the European Year of Equal Opportunities for All in 2007, which involved some 430 activities at Member State level, and the European campaign ‘For diversity. Against discrimination’ will help to counter this lack of awareness.
I would make particular mention here of the training programmes that we finance for NGOs, trade unions, lawyers and companies.
The Commission is determined to use every available tool to improve the situation of the Roma in the European Union. Specifically this will mean ensuring that Directive 2000/43/EC is applied, utilising the Community Structural Funds, particularly the European Social Fund, and raising awareness among both the Roma themselves and the general public about their rights and obligations.
A high-level consultative group on the social and vocational integration of ethnic minorities, including the Roma, is to submit its report with a series of recommendations at the beginning of December. The group aims to identify barriers to integration and to promote good practices as applied by public authorities and companies.
In this context we welcome the European Parliament’s interest in the question of multiple discrimination, and I will certainly be keen to read, at the end of this year, the findings of a new study being conducted for the Commission. Clearly, non-discrimination alone is not enough to provide equal opportunities for certain groups who are more socially disadvantaged than others: the Commission has therefore asked for an in-depth analysis of good practice as applied in the Member States, particularly in relation to employment policy.
The Commission also considers it very important that the Member States should apply their own laws properly, although legislation in itself is clearly insufficient. We aim to reinforce it through research, awareness raising, training and exchanges of good practice, so as to prevent discrimination where possible and, where that is not possible, to make adequate amends to its victims.
The Commission notes the various concerns that Parliament has expressed and would draw your attention to a number of points. With regard to monitoring the Member States’ implementation of the Directive, at the end of June the Commission initiated infringement proceedings against 14 Member States for failing to transpose the Directive properly into national law. I would add that a number of Member States have already amended their legislation in response to the Commission’s concerns, or have indicated that they are prepared to do so.
With regard to detailed information on the Member States’ transposition of the Directive, as we noted in our 2005 Communication on a framework strategy for non-discrimination and equal opportunities for all, we publish the comprehensive report of the Legal Experts Group every year, and the individual national reports are available online.
Mrs Buitenweg rightly points out that the bodies charged with promoting equality play a key role in combating discrimination. That is why we fund the Equinet network, facilitating exchanges of experience and good practice among Member States’ equality bodies.
As the report indicates, data collection is a sensitive business. Without it, however, it is impossible to assess the extent of discrimination or to know whether measures that have been taken are effective. Given that much of the information gathered may fall into the category of sensitive personal data, concerning people’s racial or ethnic origins, or indeed their religious beliefs or sex lives, it must be processed in accordance with the relevant provisions of Directive 95/46/EC on the protection of personal data.
That Directive imposes a general ban on the processing of sensitive personal data. However, it provides for a number of exceptions to the rule, notably if the individuals concerned have given their explicit consent or if – and I quote – processing is necessary for the purposes of carrying out obligations and specific rights in the field of employment law.
The Member States are also empowered to lay down exemptions – subject to the provision of suitable safeguards – for reasons of substantial public interest. It is thus up to the Member States to decide whether or not they should collect data about ethnic origin, in order to produce statistics with a view to combating discrimination, subject to implementation of the safeguards that the data protection directive requires.
The Eurobarometer study on discrimination in the European Union demonstrated that large numbers of European citizens were generally prepared to supply personal information anonymously in the context of a census, in order to combat discrimination. Three out of four were prepared to give personal information about their ethnic origin, religion or beliefs.
Such information is particularly important in the context of positive action to alleviate discrimination and deeply rooted forms of disadvantage. Last February the Commission published a European guide to equality data, with the aim of helping the Member States to improve their data collection practice."@en1
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