25/03/2021
This high-level Summit brought together representatives of the EU institutions, Member States (with the participation of the First Vice President of the Spanish Government, Carmen Calvo), equality bodies, civil society and international organizations and sent a message of unity and forcefulness against racism, as the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. The Summit was more of a future work nature, on which to lay the necessary foundations for cooperation in the development of conditions and the establishment of priorities on how to eradicate racism in all its forms within the European Union, promoting firm commitments, in particular by representatives of the Member States and the EU institutions.
For this reason, the agenda was full of messages aimed at the need to analyse the causes, forms and manifestations of structural racism and as well as to find effective solutions.
Along these lines, one of the most prominent messages of the summit was to urge all national governments to develop and adopt Action Plans against racism by the end of 2022. These plans are expected to address the existence of racial and ethnic stereotypes in the media and encourage the participation of discriminated communities in its development and implementation, as an important part of fostering inclusion and common understanding or ensuring a consistent approach to the collection of data disaggregated by racial or ethnic origin.
The second part of the Summit was more focused on the legislative aspect, analysing the instruments available at European level to combat discrimination. We currently have the Racial Equality Directive (Directive 2000/43 / EC), the Council Directive 2000/78 / EC, of November 27, 2000, on the establishment of a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation, the 2008 Council Framework Decision on combating racism and xenophobia, the Directive 2012/29/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing minimum standards on the rights, support and protection of victims of crimes, and replacing Council Framework Decision 2001/220 / JHA and other political initiatives such as the EU Code of Conduct to combat illegal online hate speech. One of the most interesting conclusions was the need to increase the powers of the Equality Bodies and the exploration of a more effective future legislation at European level.
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