Reding told to do more for Roma people
Commission under fire for slow response.
The European Commission came under heavy fire from MEPs over its response to France’s expulsions of Roma.
In a debate in the European Parliament on Tuesday (7 September), most of the political groups criticised Viviane Reding, the European commissioner for justice, for the slow pace of an investigation into whether the removal of hundreds of Roma from France violated the EU’s free movement rules and its Charter of Fundamental Rights.
Reding told MEPs that legal experts were still investigating the matter and no conclusions were yet available.
She added that French ministers had “assured” the Commission that the French government had not violated EU laws, comments that were attacked by many members.
“The lack of urgency in the Commission’s response to the situation is disturbing,” said Hélène Flautre, a French Green MEP, who added that Reding and other commissioners were “pandering to the French authorities” over the expulsions, which she said were clearly illegal. “The European Commission must stop sitting on its hands. It must publish its initial analysis,” said Flautre.
Hannes Swoboda, an Austrian centre-left MEP, said the Socialist and Democrats (S&D) group was “deeply disappointed” with Reding’s failure to present MEPs with a conclusion to the initial investigation. “I, like many European citizens, will want to know whether the French government has contravened the law or not,” said Swoboda.
Most groups pressed Reding on the issue, apart from the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP). The centre-right UMP party headed by Nicolas Sarkozy, France’s president, belongs to the EPP group.
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On Tuesday, MEPs approved a report calling on the Commission to crack down on anti-competitive behaviour in the food retail and processing sectors to ensure farmers get a fairer share of profits. The report, drafted by José Bové, a French Green MEP, called for more price transparency for consumers. It urged the Commission to draft codes of “good commercial practice” and set up a complaint system and sanctions to deter “unfair behaviour”, as well as monitoring prices for farm goods.
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On Wednesday (8 September), MEPs approved a compromise deal reached with member states to revise rules on animal testing dating from 1986. Liberal and Green MEPs, who claimed the new rules would do little to reduce animal testing, made a last-ditch effort to defeat the deal but were defeated by Socialist and conservative MEPs. The new legislation aims to tighten the EU’s rules on animal testing. Laboratories and companies conducting tests will be subject to spot-checks to ensure that they abide by EU animal-welfare rules.
Renate Weber, a Romanian Liberal MEP, said the Commission was “shutting its eyes” to the removal of Roma from other EU states, pointing to a similar action taken by Italy two years ago. “This is why the European Commission carries part of the responsibility for this wave of deportation of Europe’s Roma.”
Weber and others called on Reding to take urgent action to get member states to do more to integrate Roma into their populations to avoid future problems.
Reding defended her position, saying the Commission could not take action against France or any other country based on political declarations alone. “We cannot just go there and declare a war on a member state. There are rules for doing this,” she said. “This analysis has not yet finished. We do not yet have all the proof if there was discrimination or not.”
She told MEPs that if the investigation found France or any other country guilty of violating EU rules, she would take them to court.
Reding told MEPs that the Commission had that same day approved a five-point action-plan that aims to address the Roma issue in the EU.
The plan includes: renewed monitoring and assessment of the progress made by all member states on implementing EU freedom of movement and non-discrimination rules; setting up a senior-level taskforce to make sure aid funds for Roma are spent properly; holding a special EU ministerial meeting to bring together justice and social affairs ministers; charting a course for future EU rotating presidencies to make sure Roma integration stays a priority; calling for member states to redouble efforts to fight human trafficking that involves Roma.