As delivered by Bjørn Berge, Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe

Commissioner for Human Rights, dear Michael,

Chair of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance, dear Mr Cottier, Chair of ECRI,

Distinguished guests,

Dear friends,

It is a pleasure to open this annual meeting –

And to celebrate together with you three decades of ECRI’s work –

Which has done so much to help identify and combat hatred and discrimination on our continent.

But I begin by thanking you.

So many people in this room today have played a central role in ECRI’s success story.

National equality and hate crime laws have been drawn up –

National action plans have been adopted on everything from tackling racism and ensuring Roma inclusion –

To supporting migrant integration and LGBTI equality –

And national equality bodies have been set up to counter discrimination across Europe.

ECRI – with the help of you and your predecessors – has stood behind all of this –

Helping our member states to take the steps that transform citizens’ lives for the better –

Sometimes in the face of strong political, or even public, opposition.

I believe ECRI has succeeded because of its adaptability.

Racism and intolerance – discrimination of all kinds – are not static.

They are moving targets.

As our societies develop, prejudice and intolerance also adapt and evolve –

Not just in terms of who becomes vulnerable to them –

But also the means by which they do their harm.

ECRI has always understood this and reacted accordingly.

That is why it has been able, at certain moments, to alert member states to the risk of discrimination against specific groups –

Be it during economic crises, terrorist attacks, or the Covid-19 pandemic among others –

That is also why a total of 17 general policy recommendations have been adopted as ECRI moved with the times 

Covering long-term and persistent issues such as antigypsyism, antisemitism, and anti-Muslim hatred –

Along with racism and intolerance in areas such as sport, policing and education and employment –

Through to more recent concerns including hate crime legislation and combatting hate speech -

Also the return of extreme populism and nationalism in Europe is fuelling anti-rights movements that specifically target minorities –

And the dominance of social media, and rise of virtual spaces and various new technologies, means that we continuously must be on the
look-out for confronting new ways of racism and intolerance.

With this in mind, it is indeed very helpful that ECRI has contributed to the Council of Europe’s new Convention on Artificial Intelligence – the Vilnius Convention –

A first-of-its-kind legal treaty with the potential for global reach –

Which was opened for signature just last month –

And it is also very helpful that ECRI is working alongside CDADI, our Steering Committee on Anti-discrimination, Diversity and Inclusion –

And our Gender Equality Commission –

To develop a new soft law instrument that will look specifically at the potential for AI systems to promote equality –

And address the risks of discrimination.

Let me here also mention that ECRI has also announced its key thematic priorities for the next 5-6 years –

Combatting hate speech and hate crime regarding both race and LGBTI people –

And tackling discrimination in health care and education.

Here too, we need to work together to proper addresses the challenges we will face.

Dear friends,

It is fair to say that where ECRI’s recommendations have been put into practice, lives have been transformed.

Let me give you just one example – from earlier this week!

In a report publish on Tuesday, ECRI drew attention to the way in which the Cypriot authorities have implemented its recommendation to support child asylum seekers and other migrant children –

By helping them to acquire the Greek language skills they need to follow ordinary primary school classes taught in Greek.

Since September 2023, a new school textbook has been used to teach Greek as a second language –

A language programme has been put in place for pre-primary school children –

And other teaching materials have also been made available.

Language assessment tests are now being used too.

All of this has paved the way to a better life for these young children.

Rather than being excluded or left behind because they cannot speak Greek –

They can gain the language skills that are again a gateway to learning –

And to integrating into Cypriot society.

Making friends.

Gaining skills and knowledge.

This is good for the children, good for Cyprus – and good for all of us -

And one of many examples of ECRI’s real-life impact on the ground.

I will end there – and I thank you for your attention.