BRUSSELS, Belgium — The European Union decided Wednesday to take legal action against France over its expulsions of Gypsies to poorer EU nations but said it lacked proof that Paris acted in a discriminatory way.
The EU decision gives France more time to defend its expulsions of more than 1,000 illegal Gypsy immigrants, mostly to Romania, and its demolition of hundreds of Gypsy camps in recent weeks.
France’s government cheered that part of the decision, and claimed victory in its standoff with the EU’s head office over expelling members of one of Europe’s poorest minority groups.
“The European Commission today has decided to open infringement procedures against France,” EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding said in an interview with The Associated Press. She said the procedures will focus on France’s perceived failure to apply EU rules of free movement of citizens across the 27-nation bloc. That could eventually lead to France being sent to court.
In its formal action against France, the commission said Paris by Oct. 15 must come up with a transitional plan to align itself with EU rules on the free movement of citizens or face further action.
But the commission stopped short of ruling on whether France was being discriminatory. “On the discrimination aspect, we do nothave the ... legal proof,” Reding said.
The decision came two weeks after Reding linked the expulsions to the mass deportations of World War II. France deported thousands of Jews to Nazi death camps and interned thousands of French Gypsies during the war.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy called her remarks “disgusting,” setting up a high-profile clash with the European Union leadership.
The commission decision Wednesday “was far from a snub, it was the opposite,” French Immigration Minister Eric Besson told lawmakers in Paris. “The commission took note that there was no discrimination.”
“We should all be happy,” he said. “France is emergingwith its head high from its exchange with the commission. It’s good news for everyone.”
The commission “went for a safer option, a less confrontational option, but it’s still in fact very confrontational,” said Piotr Maciej Kaczynski, a research fellow at the Center for European Policy Studies.
Malik Salemkour, vice president of France’s Human Rights League, which is a member of an umbrella advocacy group for Gypsy called Romeurope, said he was only partly satisfied with the decision.
French activists continue to petition the commission with testimonies and statistics to show that France is discriminating against a minority community, he said.
Some 10 million to 12 million Gypsies live in Europe according to EU estimates, and they face wide discrimination in housing, jobs and education across the continent. As EU citizens, they have a right to travel to France, but must get papers to work or live there in the long term.
Sarkozy has defended the expulsions, saying they are part of an overall crackdown on illegal aliens and crime. The government also says most of the Gypsies are leaving voluntarily, with a small stipend from France. Most are being sent to Romania.
As many as 15,000 Gyspies live in France, according to Romeurope. French authorities have no official estimate.
Information for this article was contributed by Angela Doland and Angela Charlton of The Associated Press.
Front Section, Pages 7 on 09/30/2010