Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-06-13-Speech-2-351"
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"en.20060613.32.2-351"2
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"Mr President, Mrs Ždanoka has produced a report that has one very important underlying idea, which is that effective action to combat discrimination is not easy, but that it is vital for governments, public authorities and multinational companies to take effective action to combat such discrimination. It is not an easy option, as we heard from the last speaker, as it causes controversy, but it is absolutely critical.
As the Commissioner said, in order for the year of Equal Opportunities 2007 to mean something – I know he and his staff are working hard on it – we need to make proper advances. Mrs Ždanoka’s report does that. It is another step forward.
She talks about active intervention and positive action. Positive action is one of the most misunderstood concepts. What positive action means is not necessarily affirmative action giving unfair advantages, but action to remove the barriers which cause discrimination. It is sad to see that ethnic monitoring still meets with such controversy and resistance in the European Union. It is now commonplace in the United Kingdom, and in multinational companies with operations in the United States and across Europe, to ethnically monitor their staff or to monitor them on the basis of disability or age. Why? Because this enables one to understand which people are being promoted and retained in employment and whether there is indirect discrimination. The whole concept of indirect discrimination is being misunderstood and it is important for this concept to be advanced in reports like that by Mrs Ždanoka, because it works.
If one looks at the institutions present here today – the Commission, Parliament and Council – where there is no ethnic monitoring, one can see what is happening. There are very few people who are non-white employed in those institutions, including in Parliament. My presence makes the percentage slightly higher today, but that is because the Chamber is empty.
Article 13 contains an important concept. I know the Commissioner’s heart is in progressing Article 13, but what Mrs Ždanoka’s report states, very importantly, is that we need comprehensive legislation and we need to implement the Racial Equality Directive and Employment Directive and make them mean something, rather than leave them unimplemented. It is the same with the Framework Decision on Racist Offences, for which the Council has a responsibility.
Finally, in answer to the last speaker and regarding the concerns over paragraph 11, I should say that the effective participation of minorities in public and political life is a precondition for good integration. It is important. Just two categories have been mentioned, but there are many other categories in many other countries where people can enjoy effective participation. We cannot ignore this issue. We must pay attention to it and we must take it forward.
Overall, this report advances what I think should be a comprehensive Year of Equal Opportunities. We back the Commissioner in the strong action that I hope he will take in 2007. I want to thank Mrs Ždanoka for an excellent report, to which the Socialist Group will give its full support."@en1
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