The European Council’s meeting room in Brussels. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – The European Council recently announced measures it will adopt to combat racism and antisemitism, which include urging social media companies to remove racist and antisemitic hate speech and adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism.

These efforts, which are officially called “conclusions,” also call on European Union member states to strengthen the ability of their national and judicial authorities to prosecute illegal online racist and antisemitic hate crime and hate speech, including by establishing national online monitoring centers and platforms where people can report hateful content.

Other items associated with the “conclusions” advocate for increased security around religious institutions and places of worship, including during cultural or religious events.

Member states were also called on to raise awareness about the fight against racism and antisemitism “by upholding the duty to remember the victims of racist and anti-Semitic violence and hate crimes, including educating on the historic and contemporary expressions of racism, slavery, as well as on the Holocaust and how antisemitism led to it.”

The council is urging member states to develop their own action plans and strategies by the end of 2022 as outlined in the 2020 European Union anti-racism action plan and the 2021 EU strategy on combating antisemitism and fostering Jewish life adopted by the European Commission in October 2021.

France holds the presidency of the council until June 2022.

World Jewish Congress President Ronald S. Lauder applauded the measures in a statement released on Thursday.

“The just-released conclusions demonstrate that France and the entire leadership of the European Union recognize the danger that antisemitism poses to the Jewish people and society at large,” said Lauder. “We must never be passive or negligent in combating antisemitism or any other form of bigotry.”

He added that “as antisemitism continues to surge across Europe … the council’s commitment to fighting the world’s oldest hatred is more critical than ever.”