On Monday (30 September), the EU supreme court will hear arguments on whether the Danish law limiting the concentration of ethnic minorities in certain neighbourhoods violates EU anti-discrimination law.
A case before the High Court of Eastern Denmark between the Danish state and tenants in communities subject to the Danish ‘ghetto law’ has been halted, pending an opinion from the EU Court of Justice (CJEU).
The CJEU will assess whether the Danish law’s criterion – classifying neighbourhoods as ‘ghettos’ if the proportion of immigrants and descendants from non-Western countries exceeds 50% – breaches the EU’s Race Equality Directive, a law from 2000 that safeguards ethnic minorities from discrimination.
Denmark’s so-called ‘ghetto law,’ officially known as the Parallel Society Package, was introduced in 2018 to address social challenges in certain low-income neighbourhoods, often referred to as ‘ghettos.’
The law aims to reduce the concentration of immigrant communities, lower unemployment rates, and improve education standards.
It mandates stricter penalties for certain crimes committed in these areas, requires higher Danish language proficiency for residents, and includes policies to reduce the number of non-Western residents by demolishing or converting public housing.
The law has faced criticism for being discriminatory and stigmatising immigrant communities.
[Edited by Martina Monti]
Source: euractiv.com
