Increasing influence of ultra-nationalistic and xenophobic political options in many European countries, the increasing prevalence of hate speech on social networks, and the growing antisemitism and anti-Muslim hatred are some of the worrying trends outlined in the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance Annual Report for 2019, published at the end of February. Additionally, it also emphasises that many NGO’s working with vulnerable groups are exposed to an increasingly hostile environment, as well as emerging challenges linked to artificial intelligence (AI).

Council of Europe Secretary General Marija Pejčinović Burić addressed some of these challenges, saying that “we must suppress the toxic rhetoric spread by racist extremists which strikes at the very heart of our democracies,” and that member States must work together to counter these threats, through cooperation with ECRI and implementation of its recommendations.

The targets of long-standing prejudice, discrimination, xenophobic rhetoric and violence, the ECRI report notes, are Muslims, Jewish people, Roma and Black people. Islam continues to be portrayed as a religion alien to the national culture and the identity of many CoE member States, and particularly vulnerable are those with prominent religious characteristics, including Muslim women, who are often exposed to multiple discrimination.

ECRI is also worried by the fact that in many European countries anti-immigration sentiment is present, while some citizens believe that equality and inclusion policies have resulted in greater, often unfair, competition on the labor market, which resulted with the decrease of their income and the rise of populistic political options. According to the report, last year’s elections for the European Parliament, as well as several national elections, confirmed the popularity of such political options in some countries, but it is much more worrying that a growing number of moderate political parties have also adopted restrictive policies regarding migration and social integration.

Various election campaigns during 2019 demonstrated the rise of ultranationalist, xenophobic and racist speech, as well as the hate speech towards homosexual/transsexual people, and its increasing presence on social networks. Moreover, ECRI emphasise that offensive and degrading comments, which until recently were considered unacceptable, are, unfortunately, becoming the new norm, while the hate speech from the digital world is increasingly becoming part of everyday life.

ECRI warns that institutions and organisations from the human rights sector protecting and advocating various vulnerable groups face financial and personnel challenges, as well as the lack of legal and institutional capacities to provide adequate and efficient support for the victims. In addition, some are working in increasingly hostile environments with a lack of support, which significantly limits their efficiency.

The use of modern technologies also emerged some new challenges related to the protection of human rights, especially regarding the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the occurrence of discrimination and inequality in the society. Although this is still mainly related to the cases of indirect discrimination, ECRI reports that its numbers are increasing, mainly due to the lack of transparency in AI processes and education of users. Also, lack of the mechanisms for detection and prevention of such discrimination also presents a problem.

European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) is a Council of Europe human rights monitoring body, which specialises in questions relating to the fight against racism, discrimination, xenophobia and intolerance in Europe. Besides its general recommendations, within the Annual Report it also gives recommendations to the member States. Representative of the Republic of Croatia in ECRI is Deputy Ombudswoman Tena Šimonović Einwalter.

Hace 25 años la IV Conferencia Mundial de las Mujeres, celebrada en Pekín, elaboró un ambicioso programa de empoderamiento de las mujeres que ha marcado el rumbo de la política internacional y de las políticas internas de los países. España y Galicia se han sumado a ese propósito y han aprobado leyes pioneras sobre la igualdad de género, sobre el trabajo en igualdad y sobre la protección contra la violencia de género.

Desde entonces, ha nacido y se ha formado una nueva generación de mujeres y hombres con unos niveles de igualdad de género hasta ahora nunca alcanzados en la Historia. Pero al mismo tiempo son avances todavía lentos que no permiten atisbar a corto plazo la consecución del objetivo.

En este contexto de una tarea inacabada, la Organización de Naciones Unidas ha propuesto como lema de la celebración del día 8 de marzo de 2020: “Generación Igualdad: Por los derechos de las mujeres”.

Gracias al compromiso de todos los hombres y las mujeres de las nuevas y viejas generaciones, continuaremos avanzado en la igualdad.

As part of the Plan to Expand the Human Rights Activities of the Public Defender of Rights, the Office of the Public Defender of Rights has launched a series of educational seminars for employees of facilities detaining persons subject to restricted personal freedom.

The Plan to Expand the Human Rights Activities of the Public Defender of Rights was launched on 1 December 2019 and will continue until 31 December 2023. The Plan is part of Human Rights Programme financed from the 2014–2021 Norway grants through the Czech Ministry of Finance.

The objective of the first seminar organised in 2020 is to inform the participants (especially employees of facilities for children requiring immediate assistance) of the potentially problematic areas frequently identified by the Defender during the visits to the facilities for children requiring immediate assistance. These visits are performed as part of the Defender’s activities in the role of the national preventive mechanism. The objective of these visits is to prevent ill-treatment.

Findings and recommendations from the visits will be presented by lawyers of the Office of the Public Defender of Rights with a particular emphasis on the following topics:

• Assistance to a child and his/her family;
• Child’s contact with his/her family;
• Psychological assistance to children.

Languages available bg es cs da de et el en fr hr it lv lt hu mt nl pl pt ro sk sl fi sv

Link: https://curia.europa.eu/jcms/jcms/Jo2_7052/en/

Press release n§26/20

Luxembourg, 5 March 2020

The Court of Justice sets aside the judgment of the General Court according to which the collective mark HALLOUMI, reserved for Cypriot cheesemakers, does not preclude the sign ‘BBQLOUMI’ from being registered as a European Union trade mark for cheese of a Bulgarian producer

The case is referred back to the General Court which will have to examine whether there is a likelihood of confusion for consumers as regards the origin of the goods covered by the sign ‘BBQLOUMI’.

This is the first systematic mapping of the Independent Authority’s long-term experience with regard to administrative malfunctions in the management of State aid for primary production in the agricultural, livestock breeding and fishing sectors.

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