Minorities in social and economic life discrimination and victimisation Any discrimination based on any ground such as sex, race, colour, ethnic or social origin, genetic features, language, religion or belief, political or any other opinion, membership of a national minority, property, birth, disability, age or sexual orientation shall be prohibited. Art. 21 EU Charter for Fundamental Rights

EU commitment “According to the Treaties the recognition of the status of minorities is an exclusive competence of the MS. However, in EC law the recognition of this status is not necessary for the application of the principle of non discrimination to persons belonging to minorities. The Commission intends to use to the full EU law and programmes which contribute to improving the situation of persons belonging to minorities.” VP Vivian Reding, 26 April 2010

EU law and policy  Persons belonging to ethnic, linguistic, religious or other type of minority live in the EU, as citizens or as migrants  While the EU does not offer a single policy of ‘minority protection’ it deals to a diverging extent with ‘minority issues’ in different fields  EU policies in anti-discrimination, regional policies, immigration and integration are of relevance to persons belonging to minorities complementing efforts of MSs  EU primary and secondary law protects minority rights  Effectiveness of rights protection should be “tested”

EU-MIDIS – Roma – Sub-Saharan Africans – Central and Eastern Europeans – Turkish – Former Yugoslavians – North Africans – Russian  First EU-wide survey on minorities experiences of discrimination, criminal victimisation and policing  23,500 migrant/ethnic minority respondents  Different groups surveyed across Member States:  5,000 majority population respondents in 10 MS

 1 – 3 minority groups (largest) surveyed in each MS  Self-identified migrant/minority background  Respondents: age 16+, in MS at least 1 year  Random sample of 500 – 1,500 respondents in each MS  Face-to-face interviews 20 to 60 minutes in homes  Fieldwork: From May – mid July + Nov 2008 The research

Discrimination Experiences and Reporting Employment Education Housing Health + social services Consumer services General perceptions on discrimination in MS Rights awareness – complaints Victimisation Experiences and Reporting Property crime Assault and threat Serious harassment Corruption Police stops/contact Border stops Respondent Variables The issues

The findings Average one in three respondents experienced at least one incident of discrimination in the past year Mostly in employment and in provision of private services Lack of awareness about legislation and services providing redress, support and advice - ‘access to justice’ Main reason for not reporting discrimination or crime is that “nothing would happen or change” – one in three didn’t know how to go about reporting or where to report Racial discrimination and racist crime are severely undercounted in official statistics

Ten groups with the highest discrimination rates all areas (%) The results

Highest discrimination rates, at work or when looking for work (%) The results

Ten groups with the highest share of not reporting discrimination (%) The results

Reasons for not reporting discrimination (%) The results

Awareness of any anti-discrimination laws (%) The results

Awareness of an organisation where a complaint can be made (%) The results

Groups with highest rate of racist crime victimisation - assault, threat or serious harassment (%) The results

Reasons for not reporting to the police (%) The results

Groups with the highest perception of police stopping them because of their immigrant or ethnic minority background (%) The results

What is the actual impact of anti-discrimination policies? Do existing social policies have a strong commitment to non-discrimination, equality and social cohesion? Do they reach those who experience most discrimination? Do they target areas where most discrimination occurs? Are actions to raise rights awareness effective? Are Equality Bodies well resourced to be effective? How can a public service culture among law enforcement be promoted to encourage reporting to the police? Considerations

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