Data collection on equality is a vital tool in the fight against racism – EURACTIV.com

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Without measuring and quantifying the extent of discrimination and inequalities in Europe, it becomes very difficult to tackle them effectively, EU’s first anti-racism coordinator, Michaela Moua, told EURACTIV.

Michaela Moua is a former basketball player and official in the Finnish Ministry of Justice. She was appointed the EU’s first anti-racist coordinator in early May.

In your new capacity, you are responsible for liaising between people from ethnic or racial minorities and the European authorities. What is the goal to be achieved by the end of your mandate?

As coordinator of the fight against racism, my task is to ensure the implementation of the Action Plan against Racism. I will be in close contact with civil society organizations to find out about the concerns of people from ethnic minorities and convey their concerns to the Commission. I will also engage with Member States, the European Parliament and universities to strengthen policy responses in the area of ​​combating racism. Finally, I will join forces with other Commission services to implement the Commission’s policy on preventing and combating racism.

My aim is that by the end of my mandate we will be able to effectively implement the EU action plan against racism. I want to create change on the ground.

When developing policies, anti-racism must be taken into account. I can’t stress this enough and I think we need real change to make this happen. All member states must adopt their respective national action plans against racism, and the fight against racism must be a priority on their agendas. I will use my mandate to build a constructive and permanent mechanism with civil society organizations that continue to support the Commission’s anti-racism work.

All policy areas in the EU must take into account anti-racism and we must ensure the intersectional point of view. As you can see, a lot of work awaits us, but I am convinced that at the end of my mandate the EU political framework against racism will be considered as a benchmark for the development of a comprehensive policy, horizontal and intersectional fight against racism.

EU Action Plan on Racism calls for the collection of reliable data on race and ethnicity, what could that look like?

With the EU Action Plan against Racism, the EU has stepped up its game to fight racism and to really turn the tide. An important basis for being able to do this is to have data on discrimination. We need to know where we are. It is therefore crucial to collect data on equality disaggregated by racial or ethnic origin. Without measuring and quantifying the extent of discrimination and inequalities in Europe, it becomes very difficult to combat them effectively.

In addition, accurate and comparable data is essential to make visible the extent and nature of discrimination suffered by marginalized groups. It also helps to create effective and targeted policies. With good data, decision-makers can better design, adapt, monitor and evaluate policies. Data collection may seem technical and arid, but I can tell you: Equality data is a powerful tool in the fight against racism, discrimination and exclusion.

What are the specific areas where you think Member States are lagging behind?

Combating racism also means combating hate speech. Hate speech and hate crimes based on racial or ethnic origin are illegal in the EU due to the Framework Decision on Racism and Xenophobia. Yet hate speech still exists, especially online. To prevent and combat the spread of illegal hate speech online, the EU has created the Code of Conduct on Combating Illegal Hate Speech Online.

Ten platforms are already part of it and it has proven to be a robust tool. I encourage more online platforms to join this effort. In addition, the Commission is considering extending the EU list of crimes to include hate crimes and hate speech.

In addition, the digital services law proposed on December 15 last year will introduce a horizontal framework setting out the obligations of online platforms to act diligently and to ensure security and respect for fundamental rights in the space by line. All Member States will have to comply with these new rules.

So a lot of things are already happening and are planned for the future, but what really worries me and now I come to the aspect of your question about the delay of the Member States – do all of them national penal codes do not properly criminalize hate speech and hate crimes.

Should there be more infringement procedures or sanctions against member countries that do not implement the measures?

The Commission has created rules, but not all Member States follow these rules. That is why we are making enormous efforts to ensure that all Member States incorporate EU directives into their national laws, in particular with regard to the definition of hate speech or the criminalization of hate crimes. If dialogue and engagement with Member States is not enough, we take legal action and launch infringement procedures which could result in financial penalties.

Seven infringement procedures are currently underway in Member States to ensure that the criminalization of hate speech, including when it occurs online, as well as hate crimes are properly integrated into the national law of the Member States of the EU.

Many NGOs criticize the fact that the EU’s fight against racism is not working. Should we focus less on discrimination by individuals and more on structures that perpetuate prejudice?

Racism must be fought at all levels, from the interpersonal to the structural because all levels are linked. I have also worked for and with NGOs, so I know their point of view. Their frustration stems from the fact that the work is focused on the end game of racism, which is how racism affects the individual. However, it is the root causes or structures that maintain and perpetuate these inequalities that we must correct.

The Commission’s Action Plan against Racism also recognizes the importance of tackling structural racism in order to achieve lasting change. It recognizes that structural racism perpetuates barriers placed in the path of citizens solely because of their racial or ethnic origin. Every day, those affected by racism can feel its impact when they access employment, health care, housing, finance or education. And of course, there are also cases of violence. Structural racism is the most dangerous form of racism, due to the silent mechanism in which it operates. It is almost invisible but at the same time affects a person’s access to equal opportunities.

After the George Floyd affair, Europe experienced renewed debate on police brutality. What can be done to help and encourage Member States to combat these trends within their police forces?

There is no room for violence in Europe. And there is no place for racism in Europe. It is the duty of law enforcement authorities to protect citizens from violence and ensure their safety. While national authorities are competent for law enforcement matters, any use of force must always be exercised in a proportionate manner. If such incidents do occur, they must be dealt with swiftly, effectively and with full respect for the rule of law and human rights.

It is important to remember that effective policing and respect for fundamental rights go hand in hand. Through the High Level Group on Combating Racism, Xenophobia and Other Forms of Intolerance, the Commission helps Member States to prevent discriminatory attitudes within law enforcement. Special skills are needed to investigate and prosecute hate crimes, and victims must be treated fairly and adequately.

How do you see yourself dealing with the discriminatory threats of digitization, especially when you think about the fact that facial recognition is already used in public space in many Member States? How concerned are you that the regulation will be too slow to avoid the negative effects?

The digital transition and the development of new technologies can help strengthen the fight against racism. But, of course, we have to be careful because they can also bring new challenges to racial equality and non-discrimination and equal opportunities more generally.

On April 21, the Commission proposed new rules and actions regarding artificial intelligence (AI), including facial recognition. These rules emphasize that it is very important that AI systems do not create or reproduce biases. On the contrary, when properly designed and used, AI systems can help reduce prejudice and existing structural discrimination. If we do it right, AI can actually lead to non-discriminatory decisions, for example when it comes to recruiting.

Under the new EU legislation there will also be specific transparency rules regarding the automated recognition of gender, sexuality, race / ethnicity and disability. I hope that the EU’s comprehensive approach offers sufficient protection and that we can benefit from the beneficial aspects of AI.

For a long time, there was no reference to Europe’s past of slavery and colonization. What path should the European institutions take to fight against colonialism in their institutional communication?

We must tackle our past, which has certainly been marked by inequalities along the way if we are to fight racism and achieve our great goal of creating a Union of Equality.

Colonialism, slavery and the Holocaust are rooted in our history and have profound consequences for society today. We must recognize these historical roots of racism if we are to fight prejudices and stereotypes. Ensuring remembrance is an important element in fostering inclusion and understanding: in my opinion, the EU should, for example, explicitly mark key commemorative days related to racism, such as the International Day for the Abolition of slavery, as proposed by the European Parliament. In July 2020, the Council of Europe adopted a recommendation calling for the inclusion of the history of Roma and / or Travelers in school curricula and teaching materials.

There are also funding programs with which we support projects that seek to remove barriers and encourage social inclusion and participation of under-represented and disadvantaged groups. These programs include aspects such as the place of minorities in European society and the historical legacy of colonialism. Two programs that come to mind are, for example, Creative Europe and the Citizenship, Equality, Rights and Values ​​program.

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