EUSSR: Report Card Time
From the desk of Tiberge on Mon, 2008-06-30 22:06
http://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/3379If you are suffering from insomnia and in the mood to read a 128-page English version of a report, in pdf format, from the European Union, click here. This is the first annual report from the European Agency for Fundamental Rights, based in Vienna, and dedicated to the prosecution of the crime of discrimination. These are the fine folks who keep track of the accusations, litigation, trials, judgments and punishments meted out to those wretched souls who can't seem to straighten up and fly right in matters of diversity. Taking each of the 27 countries of the Union, the report admonishes their laxness, or praises their efforts.
The hard-working Yves Daoudal offers this synopsis:
In its first annual report, the European Agency for Fundamental Rights, based in Vienna with all its acronyms on display, thunders forth about the racist, anti-Semitic, or extreme-right-wing-generated acts of violence, and acts of discrimination, that are on the rise in the EU and that have not been adequately punished, EXCEPT in the United Kingdom... [my emphasis]
The Agency seems to be particularly interested in discriminatory hiring practices based on nationality, in other words, national preference, or what is left of it, a notion condemned above all others and that must be firmly abolished.
And so, the Agency is pleased that "the United Kingdom possesses the most efficient system of anti-discrimination legislation in all the EU," and that with "95 punishments in 2006 - 2007, it has meted out more punishments than all the member States put together." (This is not unrelated to the galoping dhimmitude we are witnessing in Britain.)
On the other hand, the Agency chokes with fury at what it finds in Ireland and Belgium: "discriminatory job offers declaring that foreigners need not apply."
And it is intolerable that in 12 countries of the EU no punishments have been applied, even though law suits have been initiated. These miserable countries are the Czech Republic, Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Greece, Spain, Cyprus, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal and Slovenia.
France is one of those countries that "has implemented a relatively efficient legislation," but where "convictions are still rare compared to the UK."
Here is an excerpt from the report itself about HALDE, the French government agency created under Jacques Chirac to track and punish discrimination:
In France, in 2006 and 2007, the High Authority against Discrimination and for Equality (HALDE) gained momentum, as can be seen by the number of complaints received. In 2006, the HALDE received 4,058 complaints: employment was the most important field of complaints (42.87%) and origin was the most important reason for being discriminated (35.04%). In 2007, the number of received complaints increased: the HALDE registered 6,222 complaints, i.e. an increase of 53%. [...] The HALDE has received 11,689 complaints since its creation in 2005. Moreover, an opinion poll conducted by CAS Institute shows that the French people are more and more concerned by the question of discrimination: this demonstrates that communication and information campaigns conducted by the HALDE had an impact on the French public. Indeed, the HALDE developed a strong strategy of communication and it is very visible in the public scene [...]
In other words, the more complaints HALDE receives, the happier the Agency is.
In another part of the report focusing on France, the case of Fanny Truchelut is cited as a case of discrimination. I reported several times on this case which involved a bed-and-breakfast owner who turned away Muslim women wearing headscarves on grounds of laïcité. She insisted she only forbade the headscarves in the public areas of the inn, not in the private quarters. The court ruled against her. The last I heard she was appealing the ruling.