EU-commissaris Reding: Frankrijk kan nog worden aangepakt voor uitzetting Roma (en)
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Faced with an avalanche of criticism from MEPs, EU fundamental rights commissioner Viviane Reding said she would not hesitate to challenge France in court if there is "solid proof" that it violated EU law when deporting Roma to Romania and Bulgaria.
"Our legal services continue to analyse what are the facts on the ground. We can't just go there and declare war on a member state," Ms Reding defended herself in front of furious MEPs who deemed her initial speech "scandalous" for not saying clearly if France was in breach of EU law or not.
"You can be assured that if there is legal evidence on France or any other country [breaking EU law] normally I win this in front of the court."
The commission's experts were still examining if all the roughly 900 Roma deported from France in August had received notice one month, if the measure was proportionate and if each case was evaluated individually - all criteria required by EU law.
Ms Reding insisted that the EU's protection of fundamental rights is just as strong as its protection of the internal market.
"Europe is not just a common market, it is a community of values and fundamental rights. The European Commission condemns inflammatory rhetoric not only in France, but in many other states," she said, in reference to the linkage made by French President Nicolas Sarkozy between immigration and an increase in crime.
Paris also received a letter from Ms Reding on Tuesday in which she criticises the fact that France did not completely transpose into national law the 2004 EU directive on the freedom of movement.
A special "task force" on the Roma issue will be set up within the EU commission to monitor the way member states are using community funds in order to better integrate this populous minority into their society. The evaluation will also look at the effectiveness of those programmes, she said.
Out of the 27 member states, 12 - Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Spain, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia - have support programmes in place targeting Roma, for a total budget of €17.5 billion.
Ms Reding also requested a "jumbo council" meeting of interior, justice and social affairs ministers on the Roma issue - an exercise which should then occur on an annual basis in order to keep this item on the political agenda "not only in the month of August."
"Member states don't take their responsibilities to change the situation on the ground for the Roma people," she said.
For instance, a meeting in Cordoba organised by the Spanish EU presidency earlier this year only saw two Spanish ministers, a French secretary of state and Finnish minister attending, she noted.
The softer tone in Ms Reding's initial speech, which praised the French authorities for exchanging a lot of information and "giving reassurances" that they did not violate EU law comes one day after a meeting between commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso and French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
A spokesman for Mr Barroso confirmed that the Roma issue came up and said that the two leaders agreed that "there was no interest for both parties to create a controversy out of this issue."
In his "State of the European Union" speech earlier on Tuesday, Mr Barroso made only an implicit reference to the Roma issue, without singling out France.
"Everyone in Europe must respect the law, and the governments must respect human rights, including those of minorities. Racism and xenophobia have no place in Europe, " he said.
When pressed by MEPs to give a clearer answer on whether he endorses Mr Sarkozy's policy on Roma, Mr Barroso pointed deputies to the debate with commissioner Reding, scheduled three hours later.