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Proposals to strengthen European laws against discrimination are
currently being considered by the British government and the European
Commission.
Non-governmental organisation (NGOs) are pushing the UK government
to support an additional protocol to the European Convention on Human
Rights. The Human Rights Act, which comes into force on 2 October
2000, makes the Convention enforceable in UK courts, but the ECHR only
prohibits discrimation with regard to the "rights and
freedoms" it sets out.
Member states of the Council of Europe which sign up to the new
protocol will accept that any legal right must be secured without
discrimination on the grounds such as "sex, race, colour,
language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social
origin, association with a national minority, property, birth or other
status". They will also accept that no-one should be
discriminated against by a public authority on any of those grounds.
Meanwhile, the European Commision has published proposals for two
directives under Article 13 of the European Community Treaty agreed at
Amsterdam in June 1997. Article 13 gives the EU power to take action
"to combat discrimination based on sex, racial or ethnic origin,
religion and belief, disability, age or sexual orientation."
The directives must be agreed by all member states of the EU, but,
once ratified, will allow the European Court of Justice to decide
cases of racial discrimination.
Former CRE commisioner Claude Moraes MEP, who helped to set up an
all-party Anti-Racist Intergroup in the European Parliament, said:
"The good news about Article 13 is that it will provide EU
citizens with a legal instrument against discrimination. The bad news
is that it will be difficult to achieve comprehensive race equality
legislation without a major campaign within and outside the European
Parliament". Claude Moraes is also EC rapporteur for countering
racism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism.
NGOs across Europe are also co-ordinating their input into the
European Conference Against Racism to be held in Strasbourg on 11-13
October 2000. Organised by the Council of Europe's European Commission
against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), the conference is a precursor
to a United Nations world conference against racism, planned for 2001,
which will "focus on action-oriented and practical steps to
eradicate racism".
Last updated 09-Oct-00
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