The European Union (EU) is being held back by “whiteness,” according to a report from the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR).
The report, called “Welcome to Barbieland: European sentiment in the year of wars and elections,” claims that Europe is enabling “far-right” sentiments, an ideology largely comprised of non-white ethnic groups.
“Firstly, the EU’s ‘whiteness’ – which some observers have critiqued for some time – was on full display,” the report says, referring to recent elections. “Not only did the candidate lists in the European Parliament election fail to reflect the diverse character of European society, but anti-immigration discourse also flourished in the campaigns in most member states.”
“The ‘whiteness’ of the European Parliament election also stands out when set against other important ‘European events’ of the past year – such as the UEFA European Football Championship held in Germany, the Summer Olympic Games in Paris, and the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö,” the report adds.
The report calls for greater multicultural representation within the EU.
“Olympians such as Sifan Hassan from the Netherlands, Teddy Riner from France, and Rashidat Adeleke from Ireland, have served as important role models for their multicultural national publics,” it says. “At Eurovision, Denmark was represented by a singer born in Ethiopia, and France by a Muslim from a Franco-Algerian family.”
In a section titled “Beyond ‘white’ Europe,” the report argues that there is “underrepresentation” among non-white groups. “Non-white and Muslim people might be less politically active or face barriers to political participation (for example, when established political parties discriminate against them),” it claims.
According to the report, it is “important – and urgent – for pro-Europeans to resist the short-term electoral or strategic temptation of staying quiet about the ‘ethnic’ conception of Europeanness, and instead to unambiguously oppose and reject it.”
“That will often also entail confronting their own voters on issues of migration and diversity,” the report notes. “Responsible politicians should be able to call xenophobia by its name and explain to the public that certain opinions that they share or tolerate run contrary to their own interests – for example, by undermining internal social peace within societies that are already diverse.”
The report does not describe the weak border and immigration policies that have impacted the European Union.
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