European Parliament committee holds hearing on racism and anti-Semitism

The Civil Liberties committee of the European Parliament (EP) has held talks with the director of the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC), an EU insitution which had recently published a controversial report on anti-Semitism in the European Union. Reporting to the committee on the annual activities of the centre, director Beate Winkler said that whilst having “one of the most fascinating jobs Europe,” it is also, “one of the most difficult”. The EUMC, set up in 1997, collects data across Europe on the issues of racism, xenophobia, Islamophobia and anti-Semitism. Winkler said that most racism occurs in economically deprived areas of the Union and that it was important “to explain to citizens how to deal with ethnic diversity”. If citizens do not see foreigners as a positive contribution to their societies their attitude, “descends into xenophobia”, she claimed. The French deputy Patrick Gaubert proposed that legislation relating to racism be harmonized across the EU and that tolerance should be taught in schools and also in teacher training courses.