New legislation in Hungary permitting segregation in schools
17.12.2014
Question for written answer E-010881-14
to the Commission
Rule 130
Péter Niedermüller (S&D)
In 2003 the Hungarian Parliament adopted the Act on the obligation of equal treatment as one condition of the country’s accession to the European Union. The Act also transposed numerous EU directives into Hungarian law relating to the obligation of equal treatment, including Council Directive 2000/43/EC implementing the principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of racial or ethnic origin. This Act unequivocally forbids education organised on a segregated basis.
In past years the Hungarian courts, in application of the Act, have in every case consistently declared the segregation of Roma children to be illegal. In spite of this, the Minister of Education recently openly advocated ‘loving segregation’ in a number of cases including that of a school in Nyíregyháza.
Following a legally binding judgment, at the government’s suggestion the Hungarian Parliament has amended the Education Act so that the government may enact an order decreeing in what cases national and church schools are exempt from the ban on segregation. This amendment clearly opens the way to the segregated education of Roma children.
I should therefore like to ask the Commission:
- 1.Does segregation at schools, in particularly the segregated education of Roma children, violate the fundamental principles of the Union and the relevant EU directives?
- 2.Does the Commission propose to investigate the new Hungarian legislation on segregated education?