Ethnic Diversity: COUNCIL INFO AND EU PUBLICATIONS

People from racial and ethnic minority backgrounds face discrimination and its consequences on a daily basis, but the exact scale of the problem is hard to gauge owing to a lack of data and general under-reporting of racist incidents. The coronavirus pandemic saw a major increase in reports of racist and xenophobic incidents, and the crisis it triggered had a disproportionately large negative effect on racial and ethnic minority groups, in the form of higher death and infection rates. Although, since 2000, the European Union (EU) has introduced legislation to combat racial and xenophobic discrimination, the problem persists, with the need for new measures recently highlighted by the global Black Lives Matter protests.

Since the adoption of the framework for the Equal Opportunities Policy in 2007, the General Secretariat of the Council (GSC) has come a long way in creating a workplace free from discrimination where staff can thrive professionally and personally. While acknowledging those achievements, this new strategy offers an opportunity to go further.

The Study, carried out based on desk research and stakeholder consultations, recommends as the most suitable ways forward, a larger role for equality bodies (e.g., in connection with equality data collection and use); and several non-legislative measures (e.g., reinforced channels for exchanging good practices; more guidance on what could be considered as an effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanction). To a certain extent, and only within the limits of the EU’s competences to act, the Study also identified a few possible EU-level legislative options (e.g., possible introduction of a horizontal EU legislation covering all grounds of discrimination) as well as some potential legislative actions that the Member States may consider (e.g., requirement to introduce equality duties).

Race/racial origin and/or ethnic origin are social constructs and as such they are weak proxies for the genetic diversity of humankind. While some individuals may self-identify as ‘white’ or ‘black’, racism and racial or ethnic discrimination are often shaped by how society categorises individuals in racialised terms. Ideas about race/racial origin are often ascribed to or imposed on people, and individuals or groups can be racialised by others in ways that negatively affect their experiences and how they are treated. The social construct of race/racial origin is distinct from but may overlap with how people identify themselves, which can be much more varied and complex.

This study specifically focuses on EU action and cooperation concerning equality and the fight against racism and xenophobia. Despite existing EU legislation and action it argues that there are still significant gaps and barriers to equal treatment and to adequate prevention and prosecution of, and compensation for, hate crimes within the European Union. The impact of the gaps and barriers identified – in action and cooperation – at EU level are assessed both in terms of economic impact and their impacts on economic rights and freedoms. To address these gaps and barriers, the study provides some options for EU action in the field.

Seventeen years after adoption of EU laws that forbid discrimination, immigrants, descendants of immigrants, and minority ethnic groups continue to face widespread discrimination across the EU and in all areas of life – most often when seeking employment. For many, discrimination is a recurring experience. Hate-motivated harassment too remains a scourge.

Public action for Roma inclusion, guided by the EU Framework for National Roma Integration Strategies up to 2020, has treated the Roma population largely as a homogenous group. The recent evaluation of the framework found that the EU Framework (EUFW) had limited capacity to deal with diversity among Roma. This paper responds to this finding by conceptualising "diversity" and proposing several objectives, measures and indicators that could be taken up in a post-2020 EU initiative for Roma equality and inclusion. Four issues are discussed in relation to the Roma population, namely gender equality, child rights, migration and intra-EU mobility, and intra-Roma diversity.

The aim of this report is to propose how the findings and recommendations from the European Commission’s mid-term evaluation (COM(2018)785) of the EU Framework for National Roma Integration Strategies (EUFW) with regard to the identified need to reinforce combatting antigypsyism can be translated through specific policy proposals into the new post-2020 initiative on Roma equality and inclusion. In line with the midterm evaluation, we propose that along with an approach of Roma inclusion, antigypsyism/anti-Roma racism is addressed both as a cross-cutting issue and as a selfstanding area, together with the four priority areas in a potential post-2020 EU initiative

The Commission’s plan to step up action against racism and achieve a Union of Equality.

The Racial Equality Directive defines discrimination as 'treating a person less favourably than another person on the basis of race and/or ethnicity or creating any practice or arrangement, which would, for no legally justifiable reason, put persons of certain races and/or ethnicities at a disadvantage'.

In EU law, the Racial Equality Directive (RED) prohibits discrimination on the grounds of racial or ethnic origin without defining them. However, their broad or narrow interpretation impacts on a wide array of issues ranging from material scope and the qualification of claims to data collection and positive action measures. Definitional puzzles and complexities, synergies and differences between the key terms await the clarification of these autonomous concepts ‘by considering their usual meaning in everyday language, while also taking into account the context in which they occur and the purposes of the rules of which they are part’. This context is historical, social and political, which necessitates an inquiry into how such processes continuously reshape the meaning of legal terms. The thematic report on ‘The meaning of racial or ethnic origin in EU law: between stereotypes and identities’ conceives of the grounds as a single, composite and transversal conceptual category for the purposes of implementing European law.

This survey focusses on people’s perceptions, attitudes and opinions of discrimination – based on ethnic origin, skin colour, sexual orientation, gender, age, disability, religion or beliefs. It shows that overall, compared to 2015, fewer EU respondents now perceive discrimination as being widespread in their country. However, results still vary widely, depending on the group being discriminated against and also from country to country.