Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-02-03-Speech-2-468"
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"en.20090203.23.2-468"2
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"Mr President, I have listened very carefully to everybody’s contributions, and I am touched by the passion that underlies some of these positions.
That said, there is nothing to stop countries informally exchanging good practices or best practices. You have referred to the very good practices in certain of the newer Member States of the Union, and I do not doubt that such good practices can be taken as an inspiration for other similar examples.
That, Mr President, is what I have to say, and I regret that I cannot give you a better response, but I am, after all, obliged to toe the line of what the European Union actually is as it stands. Even so, I would stress once again that, in the event of discrimination against individuals belonging to a minority group, you can be sure that I will stand absolutely firm, because I have every intention of ensuring respect for this non-discrimination which, I hope, the Charter of Fundamental Rights will institutionalise very strongly following the ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon.
Mr Tabajdi has just listed a whole raft of problems. I am well aware that these problems do exist, but I must once again – regretfully, but there is nothing else I can do – remind you that the protection of groups, of national minorities as groups, does not fall within the EU’s sphere of competence, nor even within that of the Agency for Fundamental Rights.
Nevertheless, at my urging, the Agency will look into ethnic and racial discrimination when it updates its 2007 report on racism, but I would reiterate that the treaties grant no jurisdiction in this field: not to the European Union, not to the Commission and not to the Agency.
The open method of coordination has been mentioned, but this method too requires us to have competence. It is quite clear that, were the Council to alter its position, that might open up other paths but, for the time being, we ourselves are paying special attention to the fight against the discrimination that can particularly affect people from minorities.
We need to make things quite clear here: we do have the tools, at Community level, to combat discrimination. Article 13 of the Treaty establishing the European Community has formed the legal basis for two directives: the Directive of 29 June 2000 implementing the principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of racial or ethnic origin, and the Directive of 27 November 2000 establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation.
From that point of view, therefore, there is indeed a will to combat all forms of discrimination against citizens from minority groups. On top of that, the Agency for Fundamental Rights is going, at my request, to undertake a very in-depth study into all of these forms of discrimination.
That is as much as I am able to say. I cannot go any further, because we do not have the legal tools. The Member States will not allow us to.
Having said that, the position of Roma in the European Union, for example, is indeed deplorable, and their integration is a top priority for both the Union and the Commission, as was reiterated at the first European Roma Summit on 16 September, in which I took part along with Mr Barroso and Mr Špidla. In the wake of this summit, Mr Špidla is going to establish a European platform on the Roma. This flexible structure will allow us to rise to the challenges at EU level. Nevertheless, we do also need to be careful, as, in the Commission’s opinion, an ethnic approach would be counterproductive.
I would like to conclude by saying that I have been touched by what has been said here. It is quite clear that the real strength of the European Union lies in resolving this problem of conflict between minorities and majorities in a given state, but it is also true that the European Union is currently a federation of national states, which means that it is difficult for us to go any further."@en1
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