EU Statement – United Nations 3rd Committee: Elimination of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance
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It is with pleasure that I take the floor on behalf of the European Union on this debate to which the EU attaches great importance.
The Candidate Countries Turkey, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia*, Montenegro*, Serbia* and Albania*, the country of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidate Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova, and Georgia, align themselves with this statement.
The EU’s strong commitment to the fight against racism, xenophobia and all forms of discrimination and intolerance is and remains a clear priority. It is based in our European Union Treaty obligations complemented by a solid legal framework which has been developed over the years to address discrimination, racism, xenophobia, and hate crimes in the EU and its Member States.
This legal framework includes anti-discrimination legislation, in particular the Racial Equality Directive, which applies in a wide range of areas, from employment, social protection, including social security and healthcare, and social advantages, to education and access to and supply of goods and services which are available to the public, including housing. It also includes the Employment Equality Directive, which lays down a general framework for combating discrimination on the grounds of, among others, religion or belief, as regards employment and occupation. Both these instruments provide for the obligation to ensure the availability of judicial remedies to victims and access to justice, while also laying the grounds for taking positive actions to promote equality within our Member States.
The EU is also equipped with legislation on combating certain forms of racist and xenophobic crime, which sets the frame for a common response to hate speech and hate crime obliging Member States to penalise the public incitement to violence or hatred against a group of persons or a member of such a group defined by reference to race, colour, religion, descent, or national or ethnic origin (hate speech). Furthermore, for any other criminal offences, Member States must ensure that racist and xenophobic motivation is considered as an aggravating circumstance, or alternatively that such motivation may be taken into account in the determination of the penalties (for hate crime).
This legislation is complemented by rules to protect victims of crime, obliging Member States to ensure them a fair and non-discriminatory treatment, including by paying particular attention to the needs of victims of bias motivated crime.
In addition, in order to support EU Member States' efforts in this area, the European Commission fosters, through regular expert groups meetings in particular within the EU High Level Group on Non-Discrimination, Equality and Diversity and the High Level Group on combating Racism, Xenophobia and other forms of Intolerance, good practice exchanges among national authorities and other key stakeholders such as EU agencies, international organisations, civil society organisations and private actors.
The European Commission also brings forward targeted initiatives (for example, on diversity management and on countering illegal hate speech online) and makes funding available for projects in this area for authorities and civil society actors under the Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme.
Furthermore, the principle of non-discrimination and the objectives linked to the prevention and fight against racism, xenophobia and other forms of intolerance are mainstreamed across all EU policies: this includes recent European Commission proposals and actions in key areas such as security and radicalisation, migration and integration, media and the EU digital single market as well as education.
Particular attention is also put on the specific challenges facing certain groups or communities especially vulnerable to discrimination based on any grounds including sex, race, ethnic or social origin, religion or belief, political or any other opinion, disability, age, sexual orientation and gender identity. Furthermore, the EU strives for greater protection of persons belonging to religious and other minorities, including through the work of the EU Coordinators on combating Antisemitism and anti-Muslim hatred respectively appointed by the European Commission. In regard to antisemitism allow me to mention that in December this year, the EU Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) will issue the largest survey ever on the experience and perception of Antisemitism among Jews in Europe, which will help to better understand the various – old and new − forms of Antisemitism.
The EU also attaches an enormous importance to inclusive intercultural and interreligious processes. In May 2016 the European Commission appointed an EU Special Envoy for the Promotion of Freedom of Religion or Belief whose role is to promote, both within and outside the EU, the respect for diversity on religious or belief grounds and the support for inclusive intercultural and interreligious dialogue processes.
In context of the UN Decade for People of African Descent, the EU has also heightened its attention to the specificities of racism and discrimination faced by people of African descent within the EU to ensure equality of rights for all people. On that background a range of horizontal initiatives has been put in place which the European Commission carries out within the existing legal and policy framework on preventing and combating discrimination and racism. This includes, inter alia, the designation of themes under the Decade as priority themes for this year’s open call for proposals under the Rights, Equality and Citizens Programme.
Furthermore, in December last year, at the meeting of the aforementioned High Level Group on combating racism and other forms of intolerance, a specific thematic discussion was dedicated to “Afrophobia”. The outcomes of these discussions are now being compiled in a conclusions paper drafted by the European Commission's services, which also draws on discussions held in the context of the EU People of African Descent Week hosted by the European Parliament on 14-17 May 2018. The conclusions paper, that is expected to be published before the end of the year, will outline some preliminary considerations on the way forward in a number of key areas where people of African descent most frequently report challenges. We will also like to inform that the EU Fundamental Rights Agency intends to issue, in the coming months a focus report on the experiences of discrimination and hate crime affecting people of African descent. Mr. Chairman, allow me now to turn to EU’s contributions to combat racism through its external action, including through the UN.
Within the UN, we take an active part in all the Durban Follow- up Mechanisms. But we also engage actively in all other UN mechanisms, bodies and processes, such as, for instance, the Permanent Forum on indigenous issues, and the Forum for Minority Issues, including in its attention to incidents of discrimination in caste-based and analogous systems of inherited status. All of which are of high relevance for the effective follow-up of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action.
As part of our engagement in the Durban Follow up mechanisms and the Special procedures, the European Commission and the European External Action Service provided a description of the relevant European legal framework on the elimination of racism in a written response to the request for contributions from States and other relevant stakeholders by Ms. E. Tendayi Achiume, the UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, in preparation of her first thematic report on access to citizenship and naturalisation. In addition, the EU in July of this year also made an extensive response to the Working Group of Experts on people of African Descent (WGEPAD) in relation to its request for views from all interested stakeholders contained in the note verbale “WGEPAD/CS/ND7JF722nd”.
In this context, we would like to state very clearly, as we have done in the above mentioned responses, as well as on many other occasions, that we, as the EU, are not convinced that the proliferation of legal instruments and complementary standards to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), such as a possible declaration on the rights of people of African descent, is the best way forward in combating racial discrimination in all its manifestations, including in the form of xenophobia against any persons or groups of persons.
The ICERD is the pivotal international reference instrument embodying all the norms and the standards shared by the world community in the fight for the elimination of all forms of racial discrimination. As a world community we still have a long way to go before we can say with a good conscience that we are implementing ICERD effectively. In this regard we note the following urgent priorities:
Firstly, all Parties to the Convention must meet their reporting obligations. The annual reports of the CERD committee (for which we are grateful) show that many, indeed too many; countries have a backlog of outstanding periodical reports despite the simplified reporting procedures offered by the Committee. Secondly, more Parties must accept the vital communications procedure under article 14 of the Convention. For the time being, only less than half of the Parties have accepted the communications procedure.
Thirdly, we need to call on the remaining approximately 20 UN Member states that have still not ratified the Convention to do so as early as possible.
Fourthly, we need to have more acceptances to the amendment of ICERD’s article 8, so that it can enter into force. This technical amendment, which would allow for the financing of the CERD Committee from the regular budget of the UN, is vital for the effective functioning of the CERD and the regularization of the Treaty bodies’ management.
The last priority we wish to mention is the urgent need for the full implementation of the Convention at national levels. The legislation, the institutions and mechanisms prescribed in the Convention need to be put in place and their effective functioning be ensured. This includes taking into account in national level legislation, policy and actions, the concluding observations and recommendations of the CERD Committee following examination of the periodical reports.
In closing, I wish to assure all our partners, both at multilateral and at bilateral levels of the EU’s continued commitment to the international cooperation for the universal ratification and implementation of ICERD – also an essential prerequisite for the effective follow-up of the commitments we made in Durban more than 16 years ago.
Thank you Mr. Chairperson
* The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Albania continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.