Call for more ethnic Commission staff

Date: 21/03/02

By Martin Banks

THE European Commission needs to rethink its recruitment policy

and increase the number of staff from ethnic groups, according to a leading NGO.

Only a tiny number of the institution's 20,000-strong workforce are black or Asian.

The Brussels-based European Network Against Racism (ENAR) says the Commission needs to be more 'pro-active' in recruiting non-white employees.

While stopping short of accusing the EU executive of being racist, the organisation's deputy director, Maria Miguel, said: 'The Commission has got to change. If you visit it, you see hardly any coloured people working there.'

The group claims the Commission's recruitment policy is flawed because of the 'inappropriate' examination faced by job applicants.

'Too often, the oral exam, in particular, is not conducive for applicants from ethnic minorities,' said Miguel.

'We are asking the Commission whether it is aware of this situation and what it proposes to do to about it. ENAR believes the Commission needs to adopt a more proactive policy if it is ever to increase the number of employees from ethnic groups.'

Her comments were echoed by a young black British woman who recently applied for a job at the Commission.

The highly qualified woman, who did not wish to be named, said: 'It was humiliating.

'When I turned up for the interview the person I was due to see walked straight past me. She'd assumed that because I was coloured I wasn't there for the interview.

'The validity of my CV was also questioned.

'But at least I got to the interview stage. In most cases, if you come from an ethnic group you are lucky to get through the front door.'

A Commission spokesman said an applicant's racial background is never taken into consideration in recruitment.

'We do not differentiate between black or white applicants' he added.

Meanwhile, the Vienna-based European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia is calling for EU institutions to actively promote integration of ethnic minorities and immigrants.

Its director, Beate Winkler, was due to give an address today (21 March) to mark International Day for Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

She states: 'Every institution must ask itself what contribution it can make towards adequately combating racism and xenophobia.

'We must be aware of one fact: our society depends on a constant exchange with people of different cultural backgrounds.

'But it is necessary that the integration of ethnic minorities and immigrants be promoted by all the institutions involved and that measures be adopted in all member states to tackle marginalisation and discrimination.'

The European Commission needs to rethink its recruitment policy and increase the number of staff from ethnic groups, according to the European Network Against Racism (ENAR).

http://www.enar-eu.org/en/ http://www.enar-eu.org/en/

---