Post date: Sep 14, 2010 2:58:46 PM
The EU Commission may take disciplinary action against Paris over its handling of the expulsion of Roma migrants.
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM REUTERS - The European Commission said on Tuesday (September 14) it was appalled by the way France had handled the expulsion of Roma migrants, and that it was considering fast-track infringement procedures.
In unusually strong criticism of an EU government by the bloc's executive, EU Commission Vice President Viviane Reding said Paris had broken EU laws on the free movement of people when sending thousands of Roma migrants back to Romania and Bulgaria.
Delivering a strongly-worded statement, Reding alluded to the expulsion of European Jews during World War Two.
''I personally have been appalled by a situation which gave the impression that people are being removed from a member state of the European Union just because they belong to an ethnic minority. This is a situation I had thought Europe would not have to witness again after the Second World War,'' she said.
Reding also said France had been duplicitous in how it had dealt with European authorities over the issue: she said two French ministers - Immigration Minister Eric Besson and European Affairs Minister Pierre Lellouche - had given assurances to the Commission that specific ethnic groups had not been targeted in France. However, these assurances were contradicted by a French directive, she said.
''My patience is wearing thin. Enough is enough. No member state can expect special treatment when fundamental values and European laws are at stake,'' Reding said.
She said she would push for proceedings to be brought against the country in the coming weeks.
''The timing I intend to recommend to President Barroso is fast track infringement procedure so that we lose no time and I expect the college of the Commissioners to be able to take a decision within the next two weeks,'' Reding said.
Human rights groups have accused France inciting racial hatred after media published a leaked government memorandum ordering police to prioritise the dismantling of Roma camps over other illegal settlements.
The August 5 memo, published on newspaper websites and signed by Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux's chief of staff, ordered police chiefs and regional prefects to begin 'a systematic operation to dismantle illegal camps, prioritising those of the Roma'.
The memo said three hundred camps or illegal settlements had to be dismantled within three months, prioritising those of the Roma.
However, immigration minister Eric Besson denied on Monday (September 13) that his ministry was aware of the memo.
"I didn't know about the existence of this memo. It's not a way for me to clear my name as it wasn't sent to me so I didn't know about it. I was alerted thanks to you, by the media this weekend and that's how I saw this memo this weekend, that's it," Besson told a news conference in Paris.
France has expelled some 8,000 Roma this year in what President Nicolas Sarkozy said was a crackdown on crime, but opposition groups have called an effort to boost ratings at a time of unpopular budget cuts.
The campaign has attracted wide criticism in Europe. The European Parliament has demanded France stop the expulsions, while human rights groups and the Catholic church have accused the French of discrimination.