Reports produced by ENAR members, demonstrates that racism and discrimination were still very much present in Europe in 2008.
Despite the fact that almost all Member States have transposed the EU Equality Directives, effective transposition and implementation of the existing legal standards is still lacking in many countries and many gaps continue to affect the daily lives of ethnic minorities across Europe.
In addition, the context of economic downturn has created more turbulence for anti-racist work which now more than ever, requires consistent and ongoing commitment so as to avoid falling into the easy ‘trap’ of xenophobia. Nonetheless, 2008 saw some important developments in the legal and policy framework at EU level. The Framework Decision on combating racism and xenophobia was finally adopted, and a proposal for a new directive to combat discrimination on grounds of religion or belief, age, sexual orientation and disability outside employment was issued by the European Commission.
Migration was also the focus of many legal and policy initiatives in 2008, both at European and national levels. However the lack of policy coherence and true political will, together with an overarching security focused agenda, undermines these developments, which in turn has undermined the integration of ethnic minorities and third country nationals in Europe.
Read report at http://cms.horus.be/files/99935/MediaArchive/publications/shadowReport2008_EN_final.pdf