A delegation of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) visited Germany from 4 to 8 May 2026 as the first step in the preparation of a monitoring report. The visit was preceded by online meetings on 27 and 28 April 2026. During the visit, which was carried out within the framework of ECRI’s seventh country monitoring cycle, ECRI’s delegation gathered information on preventing and combating hate speech and hate crime and ensuring equal treatment and inclusion in education and healthcare.

The ECRI delegation held meetings with representatives of the Federal Government, including relevant federal agencies and services operating under various federal ministries, the governments of the Berlin and Hamburg states (Länder) and the prosecution services of these Länder and the Land of North Rhine-Westphalia. In addition, it met with government commissioners and contact persons dealing with matters falling within ECRI’s mandate at federal or state level as well as with specialised staff in police and prosecution services. In Hamburg, members of the delegation also met with representatives of police complaints bodies.

In Berlin, the delegation held meetings with various members of the Bundestag (national parliament). It also held consultations with the Independent Federal Commissioner for Anti-Discrimination at the Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency and with representatives of the German Institute for Human Rights. Members of the ECRI delegation also visited a primary school and the Charité hospital.

Moreover, ECRI’s delegation held meetings with various representatives of civil society organisations and of groups of concern to ECRI, as well as relevant professional associations.

Following this visit, ECRI will adopt a report in which it will make a new set of recommendations on measures to be taken by the authorities to address racism and intolerance in the country. The implementation of two priority recommendations will be reviewed after 18 months from the publication of the report as part of ECRI’s interim follow-up procedure.

In its sixth cycle report on Germany, published in March 2020, ECRI recommended, inter alia, that police services in the Federation and all 16 Länder establish specialised police and prosecution units that investigate hate crime and develop regular dialogue with civil society organisations on hate crime cases.

In the same report, ECRI also recommended that the authorities of all German Länder introduce human rights and equal treatment in their respective education legislation and the teaching of these topics in the mandatory parts of their curricula, and mainstream good practices from projects on schools.

For more information on previous ECRI reports on Germany, please visit ECRI’s country monitoring page.