Heidi Hautala has signed an oral question on the official position of the EU Council regarding the expulsion of Roma from France:[:]

The decision by France to expel from its territory Roma EU citizens from Romania and Bulgaria has prompted an immediate response by the European Parliament which, in its resolution (P7_TA-PROV(2010)0312) of 9 September 2010, ‘expresses its deep concern at the measures … providing for their expulsion’ and accordingly urges (the French) authorities immediately to suspend all expulsions of Roma, at the same time calling on the Commission, the Council and the Member States to intervene with the same request’.

Speaking on behalf of the Commission, Viviane Reding, Commissioner for Justice, issued a statement which included the following observations: ‘Discrimination on the basis of ethnic origin or race has no place in Europe. It is incompatible with the values on which the European Union is founded. National authorities who discriminate against ethnic groups in the application of EU law are also violating the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, which all Member States, including France, have signed up to’.

The only EU institution which has not yet made its position known is the Council, giving rise to serious doubts among the peoples of Europe regarding the protection of human and fundamental rights in the EU. What view does the Council take of this particular issue?