9 equality and anti-discrimination organisations call for concrete action on equality, anti-racism and fundamental rights during the next mandate in a joint statement released today.
The 9 organisations – the European Disability Forum, ILGA-Europe, AGE Platform Europe, the European Network Against Racism, ERGO Network, OII Europe, IGLYO, EL*C, and TGEU – Transgender Europe – note the rising inequality and backlash against human rights and minority groups, and propose specific actions based on the work of the current mandate holders:
- Appoint an EU Commissioner with a strong mandate for Equality and Fundamental Rights.
- Strengthen the European Commission’s services working on equality, non-discrimination and anti-racism, especially by establishing a new Directorate-General for Equality and Fundamental Rights.
- Revise and introduce strong strategies on all grounds under the Equality Framework beyond 2025 and ensure their mainstreaming in all policy areas.
- Ensure that the Equality Task Force has a strong mandate to ensure cooperation between different services on the implementation of the Equality Frameworks and that it works transparently and in close consultation and cooperation with European Equality networks.
- Host an annual “Equality Forum,” gathering policymakers, civil society, and other interested actors to evaluate and develop initiatives for realising a Union of Equality. The Forum should focus particularly on intersectional equality.
- Create an EU Council formation on Equality.
- Ensure the next EU budget properly funds civil society organisations working on equality, non-discrimination and anti-racism.
- Ensure discrimination is also addressed in the work of the EU in external action, international cooperation and humanitarian action.
The organisations call for meaningful involvement of equality and anti-discrimination organisations in the work of the European Union. In addition, they demand that EU Institutions’ staff must reflect the diversity of the European population – and must be trained on equality and non-discrimination issues.
The joint statement ends by asserting:
Only by working together will the European Union truly become a Union of Equality that reflects its motto of “United in Diversity”
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