UN expert urges the EU to better protect minority rights within its borders News
© WikiMedia (Sébastien Bertrand)
UN expert urges the EU to better protect minority rights within its borders

Nicolas Levrat, the UN Special Rapporteur on minority issues, cautioned on Wednesday that the European Union (EU) must end double standards on minority protection.

Levrat said that the EU “lacks the tools and motivation to effectively address minority issues within the bloc,” and that the  “gap must be closed to guarantee better protection of minorities within the EU.” While the EU has introduced directives to combat racial inequality, there are still widespread levels of racial discrimination in many EU member countries. For instance, almost half of the people of African descent in the EU face racism and discrimination in their daily lives.

Among Levrat’s chief concerns is the lack of diversity in the EU staff, particularly the fact that racialized and ethnic minorities “remain severely underrepresented within the EU’s institutions, bodies, and agencies.” According to Statista, as of 2024, the employees of the European Commission consisted primarily of Italian, Belgian and French individuals. Nationals from countries like Cyprus, Slovenia and Croatia remain disproportionately underrepresented.

Moreover, Levrat notes that religious discrimination is another issue that the EU has purported to combat but has not yet implemented directives or a comprehensive plan to do so:

Who, within the EU, is addressing the challenges faced by Hindus, Buddhists, Bahá’ís, and Christian denominations experiencing marginalization? …The Coordinator on combating antisemitism and fostering Jewish life has three staff members, the anti-racism coordination team consists of the Coordinator herself and two additional staff members, while the Coordinator on combatting anti-Muslim hatred does not have a dedicated team and only receives support from the Secretariat-General unit’s team members where required.

The EU has been the agent of various instances of racial mistreatment in past years. For example, France’s education minister banned the wearing of abayas in state-run schools in 2023, stating that “you shouldn’t be able to identify the pupils’ religion just by looking at them.” Denmark’s new housing rules to dismantle “ghettos” targets residents of “non-Western” origin. Moreover, antisemitism is present in about three quarters of EU classrooms.

Levrat welcomed financial support for minority-focused civil society initiatives in third countries. He will present his full report to the Human Rights Council in March 2027. 

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