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EU officials implore new immigrants to learn 'European values'

post #1 of 17
11/20/04 at 8:44am
Thread Starter 
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...type=printable

EU officials implore new immigrants to learn 'European values'
- CONSTANT BRAND, Associated Press Writer
Friday, November 19, 2004

(11-19) 10:46 PST BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) --

European Union justice and interior ministers agreed Friday that new immigrants to the 25-nation bloc should be required to learn local languages, and to adhere to general "European values" that will guide them toward better integration.

Dutch immigration minister Rita Verdonk, who chaired the meeting, said all countries agreed to make integrating newcomers a priority, considering the growing ethnic tensions as EU nations struggle to absorb a steady stream of poor, mostly Muslim immigrants.

Just this month in the Netherlands, the slaying of filmmaker Theo van Gogh by a suspected Muslim radical unleashed a wave of attacks against mosques, churches and religious schools in a country once famed for its tolerance.

Tensions also rose in Belgium, where authorities arrested a suspect Friday accused of sending death threats to a senator of Moroccan heritage who criticized radical Muslims.

"It's not like we are against immigration," Verdonk said. "If you want to live in the Netherlands, you have to adhere to our rules ... and learn our language."

Highlighting a European-wide problem, Verdonk said that some 500,000 Turkish and Moroccan immigrants in the Netherlands don't speak Dutch.

For now, integration policies across the continent vary greatly. Public concerns over immigration have fueled electoral successes for far-right parties in several European countries, including Austria and Italy, where they have joined the national government.

Many Muslims have bristled at new rules targeting immigrants that they say amount to racial profiling that is insensitive of their religion.

Yet incoming EU justice and home affairs commissioner Franco Frattini told reporters in Rome that integration had to be an essential part of an EU policy.

"We can't imagine an immigration policy that focuses only on the prevention of illegal immigration, without considering the integration of those who want to enter a European country to live and work there in full respect of the law of both the country and Europe," Frattini said.

The EU ministers also set out a list of 11 nonbinding guidelines for governments and immigrant communities, including accepting basic European values, providing employment and education, knowledge of the local language, culture and history, and open access to local health care and other public services.
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post #2 of 17
11/20/04 at 9:10am
I've no idea what "European Values" are, so I'm buggered if I know what they are being asked to learn.

<fx: scratches head>
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post #3 of 17
11/21/04 at 10:54am
"European values" is the PC translation for "not muslim fanaticism" these days
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post #4 of 17
11/21/04 at 11:25am
“Europe” is such a culturally, ethnically and socially diverse community that it is impossible, if not downright silly, to make generalized assumptions or draw conclusions about it as an atomic entity.

Sadly this doesn’t deter some non-Europeans from doing precisely that. Much in the same way that some non-Americans find it impossible to understand that a New Yorker and a Texan aren’t likely to share a common opinion of what being “American” amounts to.

Tribalism is a powerful and oft dangerously underestimated force.
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post #5 of 17
11/21/04 at 11:33am
I suppose respecting the rights of the individual is the prime "European Value".

Other than that, there is no common european culture. Greeks are different than Poles and Italians different than Britons.
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post #6 of 17
11/21/04 at 11:56am
Quote:
Originally Posted by mastronikolas
I suppose respecting the rights of the individual is the prime "European Value".
In the Constitution (which Britain is yet to accede to), EU member states declare that their mutual values are:

* liberty;
* democracy;
* respect for human rights;
* the rule of law;
* human dignity;
* equality;
* minority rights.

Member states also declare that their society is built on:

* pluralism;
* non-discrimination;
* tolerance;
* justice;
* solidarity;
* equality of the sexes.

These provisions are obviously not new, but some of them are codified for the first time.

Quote:
Other than that, there is no common european culture. Greeks are different than Poles and Italians different than Britons.
Indeed, and these differences are highlighted perfectly by the differing attitudes toward the Bush administration. On the one hand you have the French who are staunch anti-Bush, whilst on the other we find the Poles who seem to like him more than the Americans do.
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post #7 of 17
11/21/04 at 3:05pm
Do European values still include waging war against the sub-continent under the leadership of a mentally unstable dwarf, at least once every 200 years?
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post #8 of 17
11/21/04 at 5:46pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Adam Warren
Do European values still include waging war against the sub-continent under the leadership of a mentally unstable dwarf, at least once every 200 years?
It seems that only the Americans have the money, men and materials to pursue such adventures these days. But even if we could, given our new "inclusive" Constitution, the phrase "mentally unstable dwarf" would have to be replaced with "the disadvantaged vertically challenged". We have PC too you know.

As a side note, this disturbing story demonstrates just how culturally disconnected some European nations are. How Brussels expects us all to live in perfect harmony under one banner is anyone's guess.
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post #9 of 17
11/22/04 at 8:54am
Hum, there's little need of reminding that the US have their fair share of racists too and that doesn't prevent them from being a unified, stable country - let's just hope they keep electing leaders tall enough.
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post #10 of 17
11/22/04 at 9:12am
Quote:
Originally Posted by El Topo
Hum, there's little need of reminding that the US have their fair share of racists too and that doesn't prevent them from being a unified, stable country - let's just hope they keep electing leaders tall enough.
I don't watch as much American sport as I used to but even so I can’t recall ever hearing stomach churning monkey chants from a sizable proportion of the stadium (as was the case in the Bernebau) aimed at black players during top level Baseball, Basketball or NFL matches. All after the Spanish national coach, Luis Aragones, labeled Thierry Henry a "shitty black man".

Quite frankly, some EU nations leave a lot to be desired WRT racial tolerance.

But this is something of a deviation from the central topic.
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post #11 of 17
11/22/04 at 9:22am
Quote:
Originally Posted by AgentOrange
I don't watch as much American sport as I used to but even so I can’t recall ever hearing stomach churning monkey chants from a sizable proportion of the stadium (as was the case in the Bernebau) aimed at black players during top level Baseball, Basketball or NFL matches. All after the Spanish national coach, Luis Aragones, labeled Thierry Henry a "shitty black man".

Quite frankly, some EU nations leave a lot to be desired WRT racial tolerance.

But this is something of a deviation from the central topic.
This is just the visible tip of the iceberg, there is a lot of institutionalised racism in Europe (try getting a good job in France when you're called Mohammed) that is far worse but a lot less media-friendly than far-right football supporters being idiots, which happens every week in places like Roma or Corsica.

It doesn't mean that the EU will necessarily fail, no more than the still-vigorous institutionalised racism in the US around the south has paralysed the country. There's still lots of work to be done in both places.
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post #12 of 17
11/22/04 at 9:35am
Quote:
Originally Posted by El Topo
This is just the visible tip of the iceberg, there is a lot of institutionalised racism in Europe (try getting a good job in France when you're called Mohammed) that is far worse but a lot less media-friendly than far-right football supporters being idiots, which happens every week in places like Roma or Corsica.

It doesn't mean that the EU will necessarily fail, no more than the still-vigorous institutionalised racism in the US around the south has paralysed the country. There's still lots of work to be done in both places.
No, it doesn't mean the EU will fail. What it does is highlight just one (very large) cultural inconsistency. There are many more that will have to be overcome.
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post #13 of 17
11/22/04 at 9:38am
Quote:
Originally Posted by El Topo
This is just the visible tip of the iceberg, there is a lot of institutionalised racism in Europe (try getting a good job in France when you're called Mohammed) that is far worse but a lot less media-friendly than far-right football supporters being idiots, which happens every week in places like Roma or Corsica.
Did you hear the monkey chants? There were far too many voices to be explained away as the isolated taunts of the "far right". There were a good deal of "ordinary Spaniards" doing chimpanzee impressions.
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post #14 of 17
11/22/04 at 9:45am
Quote:
Originally Posted by AgentOrange
No, it doesn't mean the EU will fail. What it does is highlight just one (very large) cultural inconsistency. There are many more that will have to be overcome.
Agreed, but they should be surmountable. It'll be a different question if Turkey is allowed to join the EU though.
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post #15 of 17
11/22/04 at 10:01am
Quote:
Originally Posted by AgentOrange
Did you hear the monkey chants? There were far too many voices to be explained away as the isolated taunts of the "far right". There were a good deal of "ordinary Spaniards" doing chimpanzee impressions.
Have you been following this story from the beginning? It's no excuse but in this case those taunts were kind of a one-off response to the media controversy started by that idiot Aragones, rather than indicative of a major trend in Spanish football. In places like Roma or Greece though it is definitely the far-right supporters throwing bananas on the pitch, and in Corsica they even boo black players from their own team (idiots!). These are the same people that vote Le Pen in France or for other far-right leaders across Europe - even in the UK they've got the BNP. But Spain actually has no significant far-right party, even as small as the BNP, so for what it's worth I think they're being made the scapegoats for a far deeper and insidious problem ofinstitutionalised racism - and that's just in football.

So, hum, essentially I agree with you, hopefully this story will make the media focus on the real deep-seated issues of racism rather than just blame the Spaniards and then move on.
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post #16 of 17
11/22/04 at 10:39am
Yeah but Spain never really got over General Franco and as such it is still very much, not isolationist in rationale but isolationist in mindset. And to anyone who want’s to see the power of race in France either look at the furore surrounding the removal of religious apparel at state schools (which many believe to be a way to force devout muslims to take up private school) and watch the film La Haine which is so shockingly accurate you could view it as a documentary.

The only reason I know this is because I spent two thirds of the year in one of the banlieues featured in the movie and the levels of isolation and hatred are so great it is almost insane.

At the moment Europe is looking increasingly unstable, something which will probably get even worse after Britain joins and enforces it’s exceptional high currency rate onto the euro. But within the next few years we are also going to start letting old eastern bloc and balkic countries into the Union which is going to screw up the EU no end.
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post #17 of 17
11/22/04 at 12:25pm
I love Spain, but from my exposure to it and some Spaniards living in the US, they have a lot of racial problems.

I'll never forget the guy I told one time about this female Spanish musical duet called "Azucar Moreno" and he replied with "Those are not Spaniards, they are Gypsies!!!". This was a Spanish guy living in the US, so I thought maybe it's an isolated incident.

When I go to Spain for our honeymoon, while in Alcala de Anarez, we got the "beware of the gypsies" warning. I was going to ask, how the hell you can tell who is a gypsie and who is not, I'm dark skinned so maybe they also thought I was one. This was very confusing.

There's more examples of this, but I'd like to read something about racial diversity and many of these European countries. I see a lot of people always denouncing the US as a racist country, but a lot of these accussers really need to take a look at the mirror before they start pointing their fingers.
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