THE EU Commission has launched a scathing attack on France over the expulsion of Roma, saying the policies of the Sarkozy administration bear comparison with the persecution of Jews and Roma in the Nazi era.
In unusually trenchant and direct criticism of a European government, Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding accused senior French officials of being duplicitous in their dealings with the EU and threatened legal action against Paris.
“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 a certain ethnic minority,” Ms Reding told reporters in Brussels.
“This is a situation I had thought Europe would not have to witness again after the second World War.”
Although the EU executive has been criticised for weeks for turning a blind eye to the expulsions, Ms Reding said she felt duty-bound to make public her concerns after a leaked memo showed the French interior ministry ordered police to single out Roma gypsies in a campaign against illegal camps.
“I can only express my deepest regrets that the political assurances given by two French ministers officially mandated to discuss this matter with the European Commission are now openly contradicted by an administrative circular issued by the same government,” she said.
“This is not a minor offence in a situation of this importance. After 11 years of experience in the commission, I would even go further: This is a disgrace.”
Ms Reding is a vice-president of the commission, and her remarks are widely held to have the imprimatur of its chief, José Manuel Barroso. The rebuke raises the prospect of tension between Mr Barroso and president Nicolas Sarkozy when European leaders gather in Brussels tomorrow for a summit.
Mr Sarkozy’s opponents have characterised the repatriation of some 1,000 Roma to Romania and Bulgaria as a cynical ploy to boost his own flagging popularity.
His ministers, however, have insisted the policy is in keeping with the law and stands as an important element of a campaign to crack down on crime.
Ms Reding challenged this in straightforward terms yesterday. “Discrimination on the basis of ethnic origin or race has no place in Europe. It is incompatible with the values on which the European Union is founded,” she said.
“National authorities who discriminate [between] ethnic groups in the application of EU law are also violating the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, which all member states, including France, have signed up to.
“I therefore find it deeply disturbing that a member state calls so gravely into question, by the actions of its administration, the common values and the law of our European Union.”
Ms Reding said she was convinced the commission would have no choice but to initiate legal action against France for two violations of the directive which governs the right of EU citizens to move and reside freely within member states.
The French government has publicly insisted its campaign to dismantle illegal camps and settlements – which has led to the repatriation of some 1,000 Roma migrants to Romania and Bulgaria in two months – was not aimed specifically at the Roma community.
However, a memo leaked to the press this week showed that, on August 5th, the interior minister’s office instructed police chiefs that “300 camps or unlawful settlements must be cleared within three months, those of Roma being the priority”.
The memo went on to order prefects to take “systematic steps” to dismantle “unlawful camps, prioritising those of Roma”.
Immigration minister Éric Besson, who met Ms Reding in Brussels last week, responded to the leak by saying he had not been aware of the memo, while interior minister Brice Hortefeux released a revised memo, dated September 13th, calling for the dismantling of camps, “whoever their occupants”.
He did this, he said, “to clear up any misunderstanding about possible stigmatisation” of Roma gypsies.
The French government said yesterday it was “astonished” by Ms Reding’s criticism, but would not be drawn into a public row.
“We learned with astonishment of Ms Reding’s remarks,” said foreign ministry spokesman Bernard Valéro. “We don’t think this kind of declaration will help improve the predicament of the Roma, which is at the heart of our concerns and our actions.”
Mr Besson insisted his government was complying with EU laws and would continue to dismantle illegal camps. “France has not undertaken any voluntary or forced departures on an ethnic basis,” he said.
The crackdown continued yesterday, as 69 Roma gypsies boarded a flight at Marseille airport bound for Bucharest. The government said they had each accepted €300 to participate in the plan.