"If I could…. ensure the EU prioritises the fight against racist crime."

A jury in Liverpool was told recently that black A-level student Anthony Walker was brutally murdered with an axe "for no other reason than the colour of his skin." That statement was, rightly, deemed worthy of front page treatment in almost every British national newspaper. This was a testament to the fact that here in the UK, both the law and the general public consider that racist and racially motivated crime warrants special attention.

However, had someone like Anthony Walker been attacked in Greece, not only would there have been no consideration at trial of the racial motive for his murder, but there would have been no obligation on the police even to record it. Although we have no reason to be complacent in the UK, the lack of a sufficient pan-European legal basis for prosecuting racist crime means that the situation in other EU member states is often much worse than here. Clearly, that also affects the climate of security for black and Asian Britons traveling and working abroad.

One thing could change this, and it has in fact been in the pipeline for 4 years now. In June this year, EU Justice and Home Affairs Ministers meeting during the Luxembourg Presidency finally announced failure to agree on a final version of a European law - known technically as a 'Framework Decision' - on combating racism and xenophobia. This was proposed by the European Commission in November 2001 and enthusiastically backed by the European Parliament in July 2002, so the Council had been kicking it around for a long time. One of the key stumbling-blocks is some countries' criminalization of Holocaust denial, but it is hard to see why there could not be an agreement on the main elements.

After the deadlock, the UK government declared that securing agreement on this law was not a priority for its own EU Presidency, a hugely disappointing outcome. Studies by the EU's anti-racism watchdog, the Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia show big deficiencies in the way that police respond to race hate crimes across the EU. Official data does not record the true extent of racist crime, and individual investigations often fail to pick up on the racist element in many crimes. Only 2 Member States record the ethnicity of victims and offenders even of racist crime! Although all Member States had, in response to 10-year old guidelines, passed some legislation outlawing racist conduct or incitement to racial hatred, much of it is weak, limited in scope and poorly enforced.

The proposed EU law is designed to ensure that the same behaviour constitutes a criminal offence in all Member States and is punishable by equally serious penalties. It would force states to record racially motivated crime and incidents of racism and ensure that racist motives bring tougher penalties in cases of all violent crime. It would make racist behaviour, incitement to racist violence or hatred and dissemination of racist material into punishable criminal offences throughout the EU. In serious cases they would warrant a custodial sentence.

In several EU countries this would be a gigantic leap forward in the field of minority protection. Yet it would also have significant benefits for the EU as a whole. Just the requirement to compile and share data on race crime would help the sharing of experience crucial to eliminating its root causes. The free movement policies that allow so many EU citizens to live and work in other member states has also made it possible for criminals to move to escape prosecution. The present lack of sufficient harmonization hinders cross-border pursuit and extradition. Though European law enforcement measures, such as the European Arrest Warrant, are helpful, adoption of this new law would be the most effective way to stop the perpetrators of racist crime from taking advantage of the different criminal law standards in member states to avoid prosecution.

The banning of racist and xenophobic acts would also reaffirm a pan-European commitment to the core EU values of respect for diversity and intolerance of discrimination. In the current political climate where multiculturalism, segregation and integration are hotly debated, it would help to build bonds of trust between communities, replacing feelings of alienation with a sense of security.

The European Parliament will continue its calls for an agreement to be made on the Framework Decision and I will continue campaigning to see that the Council of Ministers finally heeds MEPs' calls.

Baroness Sarah Ludford is Liberal Democrat MEP for London. She is Liberal Democrat European justice spokeswoman and vice-president of the European Parliament's Anti-racism and Diversity Intergroup.

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