Racism law talks return in wake of Prince’s Nazi blunder

By Martin Banks

Date: 20/01/05

Talks on a EU law against racism and xenophobia are to be re-launched in the wake of the furore caused last week by Britain's Prince Harry when he wore a Nazi uniform with a swastika armband to a fancy dress party.

A Luxembourg presidency official said that negotiations on a law combating racism and xenophobia, which have been stalled since 2003, are to be revived. The decision to put the law back on the agenda comes as members of the European Parliament are calling for an EU-wide ban on Nazi symbols. A spokesperson for Franco Frattini, the commissioner for justice, freedom and security, said that it was worth exploring the possibility of an EU-wide ban on Nazi symbols. The Parliament will next week be asked to back calls for renewed EU-wide action to combat racial hatred. A resolution to the assembly's plenary in Brussels also calls for young people to be taught the full meaning of Nazi symbols and the horrors of the Holocaust. The resolution has been put forward by the 88-strong Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) group and will be discussed by MEPs next Wednesday (26 January) in a debate on anti-Semitism and racism.

Parliament is expected to back its recommendations in a vote the following day, the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp, where 1.1 million people, most of them Jewish, died.

The ALDE resolution calls for 27 January to be permanently designated Holocaust Memorial Day. It notes an upward trend in several member states of attacks on Jews and synagogues and says there is a need to raise awareness among Europeans, particularly young people, of the dangers of xenophobia and racism. ALDE also call on member states and the Council of Ministers to "co-ordinate action to combat anti-Semitism".

Article reports that talks on a EU law against racism and xenophobia were to be re-launched in the wake of the furore caused by Britain's Prince Harry when he wore a Nazi uniform with a swastika armband to a fancy dress party in January 2005. According to a Luxembourg presidency official negotiations on a law combating racism and xenophobia, which had been stalled since 2003, were to be revived.