European Commission: New anti-racism strategy pushes for equality for all

A recent EU survey has shown that to this day, despite the strong efforts made by the European Union to tackle racism and racial discrimination, two in three citizens still view racial discrimination as a widespread problem in their country.

In order to address this problem, the European Commission has put forward an anti-racism strategy 2026-2030 to combat racism in all its forms. 

This new strategy builds from the EU anti-racism action plan 2020-2025, and focuses on the implementation and enforcement of existent EU anti-discrimination legislation through targeted efforts to review the Racial Equality directive from 2000 and consider stronger sanctions where necessary, strengthen the rules on tackling hate speech and hate crime,ensure the rights of victims’ through EU laws, and support equality bodies in EU countries to carry out their work. 

Furthermore, through this strategy, the European Commission has proposed to organise an EU-wide campaign on equality to raise awareness and engage citizens, has promised to continue equal access initiatives, for example, by supporting EU countries in eliminating bias in healthcare practices, improve access to jobs, and to carry out a study to assess risks and identify solutions for improving housing for the most vulnerable groups. 

In addition, the strategy will focus on continuing the work of the Anti-racism coordinator to promote constructive dialogue and cooperation among EU institutions, EU countries, civil society and academia, and increasing support to civil society organisations fighting racism.