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EU Launches new Anti-racism Action Plan

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As promised by European Commission President Von der Leyen, in the recent State of the European Union speech, the EU has launched a new anti-racism action plan.

The Commission has made a renewed commitment to ensure that EU countries fully implement relevant EU law and says it will further strengthen the legal framework, if needed. This could happen in particular in the areas not yet covered by the non-discrimination legislation, such as law enforcement.

Věra Jourová, Vice-President for Values and Transparency, said: “We won't shy away from strengthening the legislation, if needed. The Commission itself will adapt its recruiting policy to better reflect European society.”

Helena Dalli, Commissioner for Equality, said: “There is no place for racial discrimination and racism of any kind in democratic societies. We must all strive for our societies to be anti-racist. With this action plan, we acknowledge that racism is not only perpetrated by individuals but is also structural. This is why, amongst others we address law enforcement, social attitudes, stereotypes and economic concerns; and encourage Member States to adopt their respective anti-racism action plans.”

The EU Action Plan against racism 2020-2025 sets out a number of actions to tackle racism through EU law, but also other means – working with EU states, including national law enforcement, media and civil society; harnessing available and future EU tools; and looking into the Commission's own human resources.

The Commission will appoint a coordinator for anti-racism and start regular dialogue with stakeholders, meeting twice a year.

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Member States are encouraged to step up efforts to prevent discriminatory attitudes by law enforcement authorities and to boost the credibility of law enforcement work against hate crime. EU countries are encouraged to to adopt national action plans against racism and racial discrimination by the end of 2022. By the end of 2021, the Commission, working with national experts, will put together the main principles to produce effective national action plans and will deliver a first progress report by the end of 2023.

The European Commission also intends to put its own house in order to significantly improve the representativeness of Commission staff through measures targeting recruitment and selection. Other EU institutions are invited to take similar steps.

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