Regional and local administrations have a "key"
role to play in the European Union's efforts to
promote discrimination-free societies, the President
of the Committee of the Regions, Vasco Alves
Cordeiro, defended in a debate focused on
promoting diversity in the EU with EU Commissioner
for Equality, Helena Dalli.
The debate was held in the last week of the European
Diversity Month, created by the European Union in
2020 to celebrate and promote diversity and
inclusion and to mark the 10th anniversary of the
European Platform for Diversity Charters.
In their debate, members of the CoR and Commissioner
Dalli also took stock of the progress of local and
regional authorities in promoting gender equality,
following the publication of the
"2023 Report on gender equality in the EU
".
In his opening statement,
Vasco Alves Cordeiro
, President of the European Committee of the Regions,
said: "Europe’s diversity is its richness. Our
citizens need to feel respected in every way, wherever
they live. Municipalities and regional governments
are responsible for implementing policies that are
key to making sure that we respect all citizens and
their diversity, from education, to awareness raising,
to integration and protection of minorities, to even
the way we build and ensure there are no barriers. As
we could see with the cities that received the 2023
Diversity Awards by the European Commission (link), many
already lead by example. The awards are a great
recognition and encouragement for other cities in
Europe to strengthen their inclusion strategies."
Helena Dalli, European Commissioner for Equality, stressed: "Regions
and local
authorities play a key role in our challenge to
build a Union of Equality
. They are well-equipped to act fast and implement
policies that contribute to fostering a sense of
belonging and promoting common values.Their
efforts show us what is effective in promoting equality
locally, and provide examples of best practices which
can support our policies at the European level. This
is why we have doubled funding to support regions to
act against discrimination and intolerance."
The CoR has expressed its full support for the
policies and the measures introduced to meet the
objective of 'building a Union of equality' set out by
European Commission President Von der Leyen, and has
set out specific recommendations in its opinions on:
the
Gender Equality Strategy 2020-2025
;
EU anti-racism Action Plan 2020-2025;
Strategy on Combating Antisemitism and
Fostering Jewish Life (2021-2030);
EU Roma Strategy 2020-2030;
LGBTIQ Equality Strategy 2020-2025
; and
Strategy on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities.
Within its opinions, the Committee has called for
increased resources to implement these strategies
and asked the Commission to set up an
inter-institutional working group to ensure that EU,
national, regional and local administrations work
together in these policy areas.
To highlight regions' and cities' role in this
crucial challenge, the European Commission has
established
the European Capitals of Inclusion and
Diversity award. The award, which is open to all local and regional
authorities, is designed to recognise the work of
cities and towns in building environments that allow
everyone to feel safe and realise their potential. The
award includes three categories: local authorities
serving a population smaller or larger than 50,000
inhabitants, and a special award for LGBTIQ equality
initiatives. The CoR has been part of the jury of
this award since 2022.
One of the award winners,
Valter Glavičić, Mayor of Labin in Croatia, contributed to the
debate, underlining Labin's efforts to create an
inclusive environment for ethnic minorities – chiefly
Bosnian, Serbian and Italian minorities who settled
in Labin during the coal-mining era.
The Special Award for LGBTIQ Equality was
conferred on the city of Gdańsk in Poland. Its
Equality Strategy focused on LGBTIQ people, with the
innovative initiative 'LGBT+-friendly service
standards', jointly developed with local
associations, to coordinate all the services
provided by the municipality, including
psychological, social and family support.
Aleksandra Dulkiewicz
(PL/EPP), Mayor of Gdańsk
said:" The situation of the
LGBTQIA+ community in Poland has been getting worse in
recent years. These people are also the target of
political attacks from the government. Gdańsk actively
and consistently supports excluded communities. I am
proud that in Gdańsk, the equality policy is
introduced by democratic methods, including the
citizens' assembly; it is subject to a city-wide
discussion and voted by the City Council. Our social
campaign "Gdańsk as the City of Equality" was also
well received by the public. Most of the people felt
that it was important and needed."
Background information:
The European Diversity Month 2023
takes place during May. This year its focus is on
diversity in the workplace and promoting inclusive
work environments. It raises awareness of how
diversity benefits all by making space for more ideas,
perspectives, talents and skills to prosper, and thus
enhancing wellbeing, improving decision-making and
increasing the potential for higher productivity.
Diversity Month is led by the European Commission
together with the
European Platform of Diversity Charters, which brings together 26 national diversity
charters. Diversity Chartershelp public- and
private-sector organisations to design and implement
effective diversity and inclusion policies in the
workplace. This year the focus is "Assessing diversity
and inclusion".
The European
Capitals of Inclusion and Diversity Award is
open to all local authorities in the EU who work to
build fairer societies by promoting diversity and
inclusion in terms of: sex, racial or ethnic origin,
religion or belief, disability, age, LGBTIQ identity.
This year's winners, announced by the European
Commission on 27 April, come from seven Member
States: Belgium, Croatia, Finland, Italy, Poland,
Portugal and Spain.
CoR opinions on the five axes of the Union of Equality:
Background material: The plenary
agenda and
opinions and amendments.
Webstreaming: On the
website
of the CoR.
Contact:
Wioletta Wojewodzka
Tel. +32 (0) 473 84 39 86
wioletta.wojewodzka@cor.europa.eu