>>Letter from High Representative,Vice-President Federica Mogherini

Dear Friends,

Please find attached a letter from High Representative/Vice-President Federica Mogherini addressed to Moshe Kantor, following their meeting and correspondence.

The letter suggests that she will work closely with First Vice President of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans, and coordinate their efforts in the fight against Antisemitism.

We have been informed by the cabinet of Commissioner Jourova that the Commission’s initiatives to fight Antisemitism will include the following key elements:

• Physical security of people (through the EU Security Agenda and implementing the EU legislation criminalizing hate crime);
• Implementation of the criminalisation of hate speech;
• Development of best practices for reporting hate crimes;
• Implementation of the EU provisions of support to victims;
• Fighting hate speech online;
• Continuation of cooperative dialogue with religious and ethnic communities; and
• Education and remembrance.

FVP Frans Timmermans in collaboration with HR Federica Mogherini will organize an “Annual colloquium on tolerance and respect” that will serve as a forum for civil society organisations – including those representing religious and ethnic communities – to discuss these issues.

The preliminary date for the colloquium is 1 and 2 October 2015 and the EJC will be invited to participate by the European Commission.

In the lead up to the Colloquium the Commission intends to collect views of stakeholders on the actions and possible gaps in the framework for the actions.

The European Commission has currently several permanent platforms that cover the issue of anti-Semitism:
i) Commission’s expert group with Member States on racism and xenophobia, where compliance with existing laws are discussed
ii) Hate Crimes working group of the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA)

Thank you and kind regards,
The EJC team