“We have decided to concentrate on what unites us and not what divides us”, commented EU Commissioner for justice, liberty and security Franco Frattini following the forced exclusion of the reference to the banning of symbols of racial hatred from the text of the framework decision on racism and xenophobia during the meeting of the Council of ministers of justice and internal affairs in Brussels last week. The delegations of the UK, Hungary and Denmark in primis had in fact threatened their veto on the whole provision if such an amendment though already amended by the Luxembourg Presidency that had cancelled the explicit reference to Nazism “in order to extend its scope” were to be retained. So, to avoid any further postponement of the framework decision (on hold for over two years), the EU Presidency and the Commission agreed to remove the amendment, thus permitting the approval of the law by June and leaving the option open to the national parliaments to legislate on the points left in abeyance at a later date.
