The European Commission has appointed Michaela Moua as its first ever Anti-Racism Coordinator, following the commitments established in the EU anti-racism action plan.
The EU Anti-Racism Action Plan 2020-2025 sets out a series of measures to step up action and to bring together actors at all levels to address racism more effectively in the EU. This Action Plan intends to tackle racism and racial discrimination across society, through actions in the EU legal framework, fair policing and protection, education and remembrance, funding in areas such as the labour market, social protection, healthcare and housing, fighting against extremism and hate speech, with a better data collection and favoring the diversity in the European Commission. On 19 March, the first European Anti-Racism Summit was organised, co-hosted by the European Commission, the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the EU and the Anti-Racism and Diversity (ARDI) Intergroup of the European Parliament. The primary objective of this high-level Summit was to send a strong signal against racism at the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and to lay the groundwork for future cooperation on developing concrete conditions for implementation of the EU antiracism agenda. To this end, it brought together representatives of the EU institutions, Member States, equality bodies, civil society and international organisations and numerous key stakeholders.
The newly appointed Coordinator will act as focal point for all representatives so that the voices of people with a racial or ethnic background are heard and mainstreamed into all EU policies. Among these minorities and groups the Roma community must be considered, considering that Roma people suffer a specific form of racism, antigypsyism.
Extracted from the EU Anti-Racism Action Plan 2020-2025 Factseet
The Anti-Racism Coordinator will relay their concerns to the European Commission, as well as interact with Member States, the European Parliament, civil society and academia to strengthen policy responses in the field of antiracism.
Ms Michaela Moua comes from the Justice Ministry in Finland, but also counts with a lot of experience in combatting racism and discrimination in the civil society sector, where she held a number of senior roles.
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