EU Launches Legal Action Against France Over Roma Gypsies

BRUSSELS — The European Union decided Wednesday to take legal action against France over its expulsions of Gypsies, or Roma, to poorer EU nations but said it lacked proof that Paris acted in a discriminatory way.

The EU decision gives France more time to defend its expulsions of more than 1,000 illegal Roma immigrants, mostly to Romania, and its demolition of hundreds of Roma camps in recent weeks.

France's government cheered that part of the decision, and claimed victory in its standoff with the EU's head office over expelling of one of Europe's poorest minorities.

"The European Commission today has decided to open infringement procedures against France," EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding said in an interview with The Associated Press. She said the procedures will focus on France's perceived failure to apply EU rules of free movement of citizens across the 27-nation bloc. That could eventually lead to France being sent to court.

In its formal action against France, the Commission said Paris must come up by Oct. 15 with a transitional plan to align itself with EU rules on the free movement of citizens or face further action.

But the commission stopped short of ruling on whether France was being discriminatory. "On the discrimination aspect, we do not have the ... legal proof," Reding said.

The decision came two weeks after Reding linked the expulsions to the mass deportations of World War II. France deported thousands of Jews to Nazi death camps and interned thousands of French Gypsies during the war.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy called her remarks "disgusting," setting up a high-profile clash with the European Union leadership.

The Commission decision Wednesday "was far from a snub, it was the opposite," French Immigration Minister Eric Besson told lawmakers in Paris. "The Commission took note that there was no discrimination."

"We should all be happy," he said. "France is emerging with its head high from its exchange with the Commission. It's good news for everyone."

It certainly avoided the direct clash between Brussels and Paris some had feared.

The commission "went for a safer option, a less confrontational option, but it's still in fact very confrontational," said Piotr Maciej Kaczynski, a research fellow at the Centre for European Policy Studies.

"It's almost personal between the commission and President Sarkozy," he said.

Malik Salemkour, vice president of France's Human Rights League, which is a member of an umbrella advocacy group for Roma called Romeurope, said he was only partly satisfied with the decision.

French activists continue to petition the Commission with testimonies and statistics to show that France is discriminating against a minority community, that "all those who are being expelled are Roma, and all those who are being evicted from shantytowns are Roma," he said.

Some 10 million to 12 million Roma live in Europe according to EU estimates, and they face wide discrimination in housing, jobs and education across the continent. As EU citizens, they have a right to travel to France, but must get papers to work or live there in the long term.

Sarkozy has defended the expulsions, saying they are part of an overall crackdown on illegal immigrants and crime. The government also says most of the Roma are leaving voluntarily, with a small stipend from France. Most are being sent to Romania.

Critics say France is unfairly targeting an ethnic minority and lumping together entire communities instead of handling the expulsions on a case-by-case basis.

As many as 15,000 Roma live in France, according to the advocacy group Romeurope. French authorities have no official estimate.

___

Associated Press Writers Angela Doland and Angela Charlton contributed to this report from Paris.

Comments

[Whinger]

02:35 PM on 09/30/2010

France will not bow the knee to the EU, methinks!

[moflard]

07:33 AM on 09/30/2010

One of the ironies of the Gypsies in Europe is their role in the propagation and survival of traditional music.

The Gitano of Spain (widely looked down on) are the main repository of Flamenco.
The Tinkers of Ireland are a major repository of Irish traditional music.
The Roma of Romania are repositories of that nations traditional music forms etc.

They keep a big part of various countries identities alive, but aren't themselves viewed as a valid part of that nation.

[Lionel De Mun]

06:06 AM on 09/30/2010

Holier-than-thou (nonelected) European Commissionner Miss Reding, a rich Luxemburgian lady (tiny Luxemburg has the n.1 standard of living in Europe and FORBIDS ROMA CAMPING ON ITS TERRITORY), when she attacks the (elected) Government of a sovereign nation (France) is basically telling the long suffering French locals victims of Roma and travellers loitering, dirtying their villages with their trash (eg heaps of old tyres), illegally tapping power /water, burglarizing them, and even rioting (St. Aignan in the Center of France last summer, where they cut down the trees and arsoned the Gendarmerie and the Town Hall, that having them deported goes against the Human Rights, and what about the Human Rights of the locals, Miss Reding?

[littleprincess]

11:54 AM on 09/30/2010

"the (elected) Government of a sovereign nation (France)"
has signed the treaties of the European Union, has participated in establishing laws and regulations of the EU - now M. Sarkozy can keep them just like I have to keep smoking in the cold because the EU forces governments to install certain standards for non-smokers' protection.
Where's my human rights of not catching cold, Lionel?

BTW, if M. Sarkozy cuts down on the number of policemen, go to complain to him if nobody does anything anything against loitering, burglarizing and whatever you have to suffer.

[Yank in France]

02:31 AM on 09/30/2010

EC ACTION POSITIVE FOR FRENCH GOVERNMENT!

At least, that is how the French government interprets the recent European Commission decision. I quote from (my) translation of this morning's Figaro article:

" The (French) government appears to view the announcement from Brussels with a certain degree of relief. While it is true that the Commission announced its intention to open by mid-October a legal procedure against Paris for infringement of European law, Brussels will not implement this threat if Paris provides firm guarantees on the application of the directive on free movement. Better yet, the Commission will not launch legal action for discrimination, envisaged earlier by Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding."

http://www.lefigaro.fr/politique/2010/09/29/01002-20100929ARTFIG00623-roms-le-gouvernement-satisfait-la-gauche-attaque.php

[just a simple persno]

02:20 AM on 09/30/2010

In the EU countries cant deport illegal immigrants.

No more French sovereignty.

More often than not, those who sympathise with illegal shanty towns have not had the pleasure of having one in their neighbourhood

[Power2Truth]

02:38 AM on 09/30/2010

But under EU Law they are not illegal immigrants.
France is singling them out based on their ethnicity.

The shanty towns and miserable living conditions is the result of past and ongoing discrimination when it comes to housing and jobs.

[Yank in France]

03:54 AM on 09/30/2010

This issue of the free circulation of citizens from one EU country to another does indeed pose problems of sovereignty but there is not reason to panic. The guidelines go something like this: a resident of one EU nation has the right to travel to another country for a period of 90 days. After that period, they must show have adequare means to sustain an independent existence or leave.

In reality, most people can get away with staying in a country like France without notifying the authorities much of anything, as long as they do not steal or engage in violent crime. 

In the case of the Roma Gypsies, they are targets of state actions because: 
(1) most of the encampments are totally illegal if not outright squatted, placing them automatically outside of the law;
(2) are the subject of much criminality.

This scenarios is played out throughout Europe.

So now, France has taken action against the Gypsies by offering to give them a financial incentive to leave the country. 

Some big shots from tiny countries, like Luxembourg, are trying to say that the French are discriminating against the Gypsies, much like white discrimination against blacks in the US.

In reality, the analogy with American blacks is extremely insulting for African-Americans because the issue is EQUALITY BEFORE THE LAW, and it is the Roma Gypsies who are demanding special treatment that is totally unacceptable to society! 

Europe and France, in particular, have a long tradition of equality before the law, and I am sure that this principle will win the day!

[Power2Truth]

05:02 AM on 09/30/2010

“Some big shots from tiny countries, like Luxembourg, are trying to say that the French are discriminating against the Gypsies, much like white discrimination against blacks in the US.”
LOL
No, most are saying the French are discriminating against the Gypsies, much like the Germans in the 1930s.
It’s you who tries to bait and switch the topic to African Americans in defense of French discrimination.
The Germans back then also used the excuse to deem their minorities more likely to be criminal.

[moflard]

07:20 AM on 09/30/2010

But of course, the problem with the French actions is that they aren't checking each individuals status, but deporting en-mass, which is, whether they are illegal or not, against the EC regs and does smack of ethnically targeted action.

If they are illegal they should be deported, but only after the required checks have been carried out, otherwise it's France pleading for special treatment before European Law (yet again).

[James Caird]

01:22 AM on 09/30/2010

I really hope the EU confronts this for what it is.
If France is permitted to openly discriminate against minorities, this would set an awful precedent in an already racially charged region.

[CologneCitizen]

01:47 AM on 09/30/2010

Racist like the US, where half the country hates the president because he is black ?

[vivi fb]

12:29 AM on 09/30/2010

These people on the picture look a lot, a lot like any brazilian poor/middle class family, and now it looks clear to me that north-americans and europeans really hate poor people, even calling them "sub-human".
They are poorly dressed, yes, have many children, yes, but they are PEOPLE like any of us. Give them education and a job, and a place to settle, for Gods sake.
But that makes me wonder just WHY the europeans are still allowing muslims who blow themselves up into their countries, giving them visas and citizenship, while they want to get rid of peaceful people like the gypsies, just because they're poor?

[Yank in France]

07:00 AM on 09/30/2010

Eeh gads, vivi, if you judge by a few photos, you are really lost in this world.

Romanian Gypsies are not the equivalent of middle-class or even working-class Brazilians!

Please study up a bit on this issue before issuing such silly comparison.

[kingshmoopy]

12:31 PM on 09/30/2010

"North Americans and Europeans really hate poor people . . . " That's a pretty sweeping generalization. I'm an American living in Ireland. I've never seen people who are more personally generous towards people in need than the Irish, both in their own country and internationally. And Americans, despite our reputations, are very generous both with time and with money. And I'm not even touching the remark you made about Muslims because I'm hoping you're not generalizing about them as well.

[moflard]

02:16 PM on 09/30/2010

Try being a Tinker, they dobn´t have such a great time.

[dbmetzger]

07:27 PM on 09/29/2010

on a fashionable note
Raw Video: Roma Fashion Show in Budapest
A fashion show presenting clothing, jewelery and various accessories from the world of the Roma was held in Budapest. http://www.newslook.com/videos/253178-raw-video-roma-fashion-show-in-budapest?autoplay=true

[natturnerx]

05:07 PM on 09/29/2010

where is the martin luther king of the gypsies? why isnt it as well known that this group was also targeted by hiitler's genocide, just like the jewish people? the impulse to oppression & ethnic cleansing lurks deep in the heart of europeans.

[omobob]

04:51 PM on 09/29/2010

The EUs legal action against Sarkosky confirms what we already knew that hid intolerant and punitive out lashings at Islamic women and now the Roma have been generated by himself and the xenophobic anti-immigrationists in France who brought him to power. Glad to see the EU calling for Sarkosky to slow down on his march towards intolerance, hate and anger at those who are deemed to be the "others".

[Maria McCants]

03:44 PM on 09/29/2010

THE EU IS A DISASTER FOT THE WORKING PEOPLE THE ONLY WHO PROFIT FROM IT ARE THE BIG SHOTS THEIR COUNTRYS ARE OVER RUN BY PEOPLE FROM THE OTHER EU COUNTRYS

[Hajnal]

06:48 PM on 09/29/2010

Your caps lock key is stuck or what?

[FreedomOnionSoup]

03:07 PM on 09/29/2010

Completely ridiculous.

Just look at the caption to that picture, squatting. France has ever right to stop people who no intention of contributing to society from immigrating.

[Yank in France]

02:00 PM on 09/29/2010

I see all the anti-French and anti-EU buzzards are out in force today. Well folks, you can keep up the buzz as much as you want because when all the dust settles, the Europeans will come to a consensus on how to deal with this sort of unwelcome cross-border migration.

At the beginning of each problem, some naive people, blessed by a short article or a 3 minute 20 second news report (6 minutes minus advertizing), pronounce the death of Europe. It happened with the Franco-British conflict of 1967, the Asian and Latin American monetary crises of 1998, the dot.com market crash of 2000-2001 and then with the Greek debt crisis.

At the end of the day, Europe has always come out stronger, more united and with better institutions.

It matters not who wins this dispute in EU courts, because if they lose, they will eventually push for a change in EU law. The underlying truth is that European leaders will tell you that discriminating against the Roma Gypsies is wrong, but 80% are lying through their teeth: they don't want the Roma in their countries. Period!

Despite the headlines and the hype, this is not a civil rights issue, as per Blacks in the US, for example, but one of stopping massive crime waves.

[obelis kreative]

02:23 PM on 09/29/2010

I was wondering how long it would be before you entered the fray!

[Rand]

02:26 PM on 09/29/2010

Yes. Because France does NOTHING wrong... And ALL Rom are criminals (But, of course, that's NOT a bigoted comment... According to those who hate the Rom!)

[James Caird]

01:07 AM on 09/30/2010

Still defending bigotry and discrimination

Please stop hiding behind the “anti French” whine.
You are not the one discriminated against.

[stargazer13]

01:31 PM on 09/29/2010

they seem like nice people to me ! I like the gypsies

discrimination is never a good thing !

[Seaniebhoy]

02:12 PM on 09/29/2010

Eh you are correct about discrimination being a good thing, but this issue is far more complicated than you may think.

[KIVPossum]

03:09 PM on 09/29/2010

>>>they seem like nice people to me

That's what I said the first year I lived in a gypsy area.

[judiNJ]

01:21 PM on 09/29/2010

This is sounding an awful lot like Europe in the late 20s and early 30s. It is pretty scary. When people start saying things like "they are subhuman", that is a big, huge red flag.