European Commission Against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI)

This book provides a detailed assessment of the first 15 years of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance. ECRI's terms of reference deriving from the Vienna Plan of Action were to "review member states' legislation, policies and other measures to combat racism, xenophobia, antisemitism and intolerance, and their effectiveness" and "propose further action at local, national and European level". This book examines how ECRI has developed and fulfilled this mandate. It begins by looking at ECRI's foundational years. It then describes and closely examines the evolution of the three main prongs of ECRI's work program - country-by-country work, general themes and relations with civil society. The work also examines ECRI's contribution to legal standards to protect individuals against racism and discrimination and its impact on the case law of the European Court of Human Rights. It concludes with a discussion of ECRI's opinion on three important contemporary issues in European anti-racism work: positive measures, racist expression and the current racist climate.--Publisher's description.