The European Parliament asks the Italian authorities "not to take the fingerprints of Romanies, including children", and "not to use the fingerprints taken so far, pending an assessment of these measures by the EU Commission". These are two passages from the text adopted in Strasbourg today by the Assembly of the 27 member states. Parliament passed a resolution submitted by Socialists, Environmentalists, Liberal Democrats and the United Left and supported by some Hungarian and Romanian People’s Party members, with 336 votes for, 220 votes against, and 77 abstentions. A request from the People’s Party group to put off the poll had been rejected earlier on. Parliament thinks it is "unacceptable" to breach the fundamental rights of children and treat them as criminals and asks the EU Commission "to check if the Italian measures are compatible with the EU law". At the same time, it asks all the member states to "repeal all the laws that discriminate against the Romanies" and urges "a strengthening of the EU social inclusion policies" for the European nomadic populations. (continued)
