EU Equality Summit in Paris

 EU Equality Summit in Paris, What would be the follow up ?

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On September 29-30, 2008 more than 450 governmental representatives, experts and members of civil society organizations met in Paris to discuss how to implement the principle of equal treatment in the European Union. Participants also discussed the successes and failures in implementing the activities of the 2007 Year of Equal Opportunities. The French EU Presidency stated that it will continue to raise awareness among Europeans of their rights to equal treatment and life without discrimination. The main subject of discussion was the new anti-discrimination directive, adopted by the European Commission in June, and presented by Commissioner Vladimir Spidla to the European Parliament in early July. The directive prohibits discrimination on the grounds of disability, age, sexual orientation or religion, and is supposed to ensure equal treatment in such areas as social protection (including social security), housing, health care and access to goods and services. Some of the Summit’s participants expressed concerns that there are still gaps in the provisions and implementation of existing anti-discrimination legislation, and that it might be prudent to consider and resolve these problems before enacting a new directive. The new directive may in fact help to close some of these gaps; for example, by promoting equality and non-discrimination at the national level, where certain groups are often better protected than others in EU member states. The positive impact of the new directive notwithstanding, other significant gaps in earlier anti-discrimination directives need to be seriously considered and addressed to ensure the full realization of non-discrimination in Europe.

It was interesting to note that ERIO’s representative was the only Roma among the 450 participants at the European Equality Summit in Paris. At an event where equal treatment and anti-discrimination were the main themes, representatives of Europe’s most discriminated-against and disadvantaged group were missing. Their opinions and experiences would have added substance to the discussion of the experts. Of course, Roma were mentioned several times in the speeches of EU officials and even by NGOs that deal with discrimination generally, but otherwise have nothing to do with Roma issues. The information they cite is taken from other reports, and repeated simply because it is not possible to talk about unequal treatment in Europe without mentioning the Roma. This reflects a standard European response to discrimination and other problems faced by Roma communities: someone else assesses how much this group has been discriminated against, and decides how the issue can be resolved. The EU needs to change its paternalistic approach of imposing actions and policies of which the Roma are passive beneficiaries. Further, the Commission must meet the challenge of designing comprehensive legislation with a sufficiently broad scope to ensure that protection is available to those that need it most; such measures must contain mechanisms for effective implementation, but be flexible enough to be applied without complication across a large area and various national contexts.

The demand for comprehensive European anti-discrimination laws was evident in April, when some member states noted that the wording of the newly-proposed directive would only protect individuals from discrimination on the basis of disability. In response to the critical member state reaction, the Commission widened the scope of the new anti-discrimination law to include the additional grounds of age, religion and sexual orientation. Participants at the EU Equality Summit in general expressed their hope that all forms of discrimination in employment will be covered by the new legislation.

One of the most impressive statements of the Summit was given by Mr. Morten Kjaerum, Director of the EU Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA): “For millions of people in the EU, discrimination and inequalities remain daily experiences. This is a disgrace EU governments must address head-on. Determined action must follow the summit in order to put ideals into realities. The European Union can take pride in its existing equality legislation. However, the best legislation is useless if people are not aware of it. How is it possible that only one third of our citizens say that they know their rights, should they be a victim of discrimination? I call on EU governments to fulfill their legal obligation to inform people about their rights and give them the means to realize them. At every airport you find posters with passengers' rights. Why don't we give the same visibility to the right to equality - in town halls, companies, schools or at the local post office? Equality is a right and not a charity. There are still gaps in the legal protection against discrimination. Currently, in many Member States, some groups are better protected by legislation than others. This is not right. People must have equal rights to equal treatment. The new non-discrimination package proposed by the European Commission would close this gap. It would ensure that all forms of discrimination are tackled with the same vigour of the law. I hope that this summit will bring EU governments closer to a consensus on this important new piece of EU legislation."

Although EU institutions have been reluctant to set up Roma-specific workshops as part of events with a more general theme, meetings at the level of the EU Equality Summit should include workshops or specific Roma-related sessions. The purpose of such brainstorming opportunities among EU and governmental officials, independent experts and Roma and non-Roma NGOs would be to assess how EU policies related to the Roma could be designed to achieve full and effective equality between Roma and non-Roma populations.

In order to achieve this equality, the EU must strengthen and implement vigorously all of its equality legislation and policies. As the Roma are among the most disadvantaged groups in European societies, they will be among the primary beneficiaries of European progress on equality. Moreover, the Roma rights movement and the Roma issue are now in a position to be an influential and driving force for the whole European equality agenda. Hopefully the next Equality Summit will invite more Roma actors. They should be called upon to take responsibility for the formulation of policy and to assume responsibility and leadership in a broader European equality agenda; this would benefit not only the Roma, but all potential victims of discrimination, and European society in general.

"The right to equal treatment is fundamental, but millions of people in the EU continue to face discrimination in their everyday lives. At present, there is an inequality in Community legislation itself because people are protected from discrimination outside the workplace only on grounds of gender and race or ethnic origin. We must ensure equal treatment for all grounds,” said Vladimír Špidla, Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities.

The new anti-discrimination legislation is part of the largest package of initiatives the Commission has ever submitted to the Parliament: a total of 19 measures form a wide-ranging "social agenda" which is being supported by France, the holder of the EU Presidency until December. It has also highlighted the central role of national governments and equality bodies in implementing and enforcing anti-discrimination laws: EU directives require member states to deal with discrimination, but leave it up to the states to decide on the best course of action to take. Engaging the participation of Roma actors at the state and sub-state level, as well as at the European level, would therefore be an important step towards ensuring that anti-discrimination protection is extended to the most disadvantaged groups, and is implemented effectively and consistently throughout the EU.