The European Parliament,

–  having regard to Articles 2, 6, 7 and 29 of the Treaty on European Union and Article 13 of the EC Treaty, which commit the Member States to upholding the highest standards of human rights and non-discrimination, and to the European Charter of Fundamental Rights,

–  having regard to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD), signed by all the EU Member States and several non-EU member countries,

–  having regard to its previous resolutions on racism, xenophobia and extremism, particularly the resolution of 15 June 2006 on the increase in racist and homophobic violence in Europe,(1)

–  having regard to Rule 103(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

A.  whereas racism, anti-Semitism, xenophobia and homophobia are motivated by irrational causes and are linked to a refusal to see our societies as multicultural and to perceive difference as a form of richness, as well as to social marginalisation and exclusion, poverty, unemployment and lack of education,

B.  whereas several European countries have recently experienced violent events and killings motivated by racist, xenophobic, homophobic, anti-Semitic and anti-Roma hate, while other direct and indirect forms of racism, xenophobia, homophobia, anti-Semitism and anti-Gypsyism persist inside and outside the EU,

C.  whereas politically, in terms of racism and xenophobia, there has been a rise in extremist positions, which have resulted in hatred, fear and xenophobic stands in several Member States,

D.  whereas no Member State is immune to the intrinsic threats that extremism poses to democracy and whereas combating the spread of xenophobic attitudes is therefore a European challenge,

E.  whereas neo-Nazi and right-wing extremists are directing their violent attacks at a wide variety of vulnerable groups, including migrants, homosexuals, anti-racist activists and the homeless,

1.  Strongly condemns all racist and hate attacks, urges the national authorities to do everything in their power to punish those responsible and expresses its solidarity with all victims of such attacks and their families;

2.  Points out that fighting extremism must not have any negative effects on the permanent obligation to respect fundamental rights and fundamental legal principles, including freedom of expression and association, as enshrined in Article 6 of the EU Treaty;

3.  Urges the Commission and Council to lead the search for appropriate political and legal responses, especially at the preventive stage, not forgetting the necessary responses in terms of young people’s education and public information, teaching against totalitarianism and disseminating the principles of human rights and fundamental freedoms, in order to keep alive the memory of European history; asks the Member States to develop policies of education for democratic citizenship based on citizens’ rights and responsibilities;

4.  Calls on the European institutions to give a clear mandate to the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights to investigate the structures of extreme right-wing groups in order to ascertain whether these groups coordinate their work across the European Union or at regional level;

5.  Reiterates its belief that public personalities should refrain from making statements that encourage or incite hatred or stigmatisation of groups of people on the basis of their race, ethnic origin, religion, handicap, sexual orientation or nationality; believes that public personalities who incite to hatred are to be considered an aggravating circumstance when dealing with hate speech;

6.  Points to the need for broader civil society action to help victims of racism; demands, therefore, that all Member States provide NGOs with enough financial, personal and material resources to enable them to fulfil their tasks;

7.  Instructs its President to forward this resolution to Council and the Commission.

(1) Texts adopted: P6_TA(2006)0273.