Racism

Freedom cannot be complete in the presence of racist tendencies. In June 2000, EU governments agreed to adopt the first EU directive on racism - a law designed to outlaw discrimination on the basis of different racial origin. The EU is also currently proposing common charges for racist and xenophobic offences.

In Malta, amendments to the Criminal Code was adopted at the end of 2001 to render acts of racial discrimination a criminal offence. This means that for the first time, racism will also become a criminal offence in Malta. During negotiations, Malta also expressed its interest to participate in the activities of the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia.