Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on ‘Diversity management in the EU Member States’

(exploratory opinion)

(2021/C 10/02)

Rapporteurs:

Adam ROGALEWSKI Carlos Manuel TRINDADE

Request by the German Presidency of the Council	Letter, 18.2.2020
Legal basis	Article 304 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union
Section responsible	Employment, Social Affairs and Citizenship
Adopted in section	9.9.2020
Adopted at plenary	29.10.2020
Plenary session No	555
Outcome of vote (for/against/abstentions)	237/4/10

1.   Conclusions and recommendations

1.1.

This opinion was requested by the German presidency and focuses on diversity management in relation to migrants and ethnic minorities in society and the workplace. Case studies of four EU countries representing four geographical regions are examined in this opinion: Northern Europe (Finland), Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) (Poland), Western Europe (France) and Southern Europe (Italy).

1.2.

The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) calls for using a holistic approach in diversity management policies. Such policies need to focus on all aspects of the work and daily lives of the groups in question, including in terms of workplaces, education, public services, local communities and social rights.

1.3.

Diversity management should take into consideration heterogeneity and multiple identities. Migrants and ethnic minorities are not a homogeneous group, and recognising intersectionality is crucial to developing successful diversity policies.

1.4.

Addressing structural racism across all institutions requires social justice for ethnic minorities and migrants. To that end, the EESC calls on the EU and the Member States to increase their legal and political efforts to tackle racism and xenophobia. Recent global events demonstrate the urgency. COVID-19 is exacerbating structural racism in Europe. Ethnic minorities and migrants not only face greater exposure to the disease, but are at greater risk of associated inequalities, and are less likely to be supported. Across Europe, Black Lives Matter protests following the murder of George Floyd in the United States reveal that institutional racism and xenophobia remain embedded in our European societies.

1.5.

Migrants and ethnic minorities are, in many instances, at the forefront of tackling the pandemic and its consequences, while also disproportionately bearing the risks. Their contribution must be recognised, and the diversity strategy should play an important role in this. Recognition of their contribution should include the provision of quality working conditions, fair wages and social protection. Migrants should have access to the same standards of quality accommodation, education and health as those available to European citizens. Furthermore, policies to protect undocumented migrants should be implemented, with the participation and approval of the social partners and civil society organisations.

1.6.

EU and Member States need to proactively secure more funds for diversity management for the benefit of all citizens, social justice, fundamental rights and the economy. The COVID-19 pandemic and economic crisis must not be allowed to undercut spending or reduce Member States’ capacity in that area. In particular, social partners and civil society organisations should be provided with adequate and long-lasting funding for developing and implementing diversity policies. One of them should be the new ESF+ fund.

1.7.

Diversity policies should address skill underutilisation. The EESC reiterates its recommendations for better recognition of qualifications, and especially in the health and long-term care sectors (1). Improvement to qualification and prior learning recognition processes should follow recommendations of Unesco, which urges coherent, transparent and flexible frameworks targeted at migrants and refugees (2).

1.8.

The EESC emphasises the important role of public services and their adequate funding in protecting diversity.

1.9.

The Committee calls on the EU and the Member States to provide free and universal education trainings including language courses to enable migrants to fully participate in the labour market.

1.10.

The EESC calls for diversity management to be mainstreamed across different EU policy areas and incorporated into the EU rules on public procurement, by taking into account whether companies have diversity policies as a criterion for awarding public contracts.

1.11.

The EESC underlines the crucial role of the social partners in developing, implementing and assessing diversity management. Research and the case studies presented demonstrate that collective bargaining and social dialogue are essential and that workplaces with a trade union presence are more likely to have in place inclusion policies and better anti-discrimination practices. Moreover, trade unions and employers’ organisations play an important role in empowering migrant workers and entrepreneurs within their structures through special support mechanisms.

1.12.

The EESC underlines the important role of civil society organisations and advocacy groups focused on the rights of migrants and ethnic minorities. Migrant-led organisations explicitly call for structured dialogue and meaningful participation in all stages of labour migration and employment policy impacting migrant and ethnic minority workers. For diversity management to be meaningful, all stakeholders must be included in social and civil dialogue.

1.13.

The Committee encourages employers to develop robust diversity management strategies in collaboration with trade unions that go beyond statements of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and through proper monitoring to deliver change. In particular, employers should be helped to make use of existing toolkits and methodologies, such as those developed by the European Network Against Racism (ENAR). Employers should aim to apply diversity policies across the entire supply chain.

1.14.

To develop comprehensive strategies to tackle systemic racism and promote diversity, the Member States should develop National Action Plans Against Racism, as proposed by the UN World Conference Against Racism which took place in South Africa in 2018 (3).

1.15.

The EESC calls on the Commission to urgently develop a new plan on the inclusion of third-country nationals, since the previous one expired in 2018. Furthermore, positive action to strengthen the inclusion of migrants should be incorporated into the proposed Pact on Asylum and Migration.

1.16.

The Committee believes that there is a need to improve data collection and monitoring of diversity policies in the labour market in the Member States and at EU level. Without improved data collection, we will not be able to monitor and improve relevant strategies. To that end, the EESC calls on all relevant stakeholders to work together to advance data collection on ethnic minority and migrant workers’ participation in the labour market.

1.17.

Inclusion and diversity are essential to democracy. Our workplaces and societies become more democratic when ethnic minorities and migrants participate in civil society, trade unions and formal democratic processes such as elections. To promote active citizenship, the Member States should encourage migrants to actively participate not only in the labour market but also in decision-making processes such as politics. To promote diversity in our societies, it is important to enfranchise migrants so that they can participate in local elections on the same basis as EU citizens and stand as representatives of local communities.

1.18.

The EU institutions, including the EESC, should lead by example in diversity management, including by increasing the number of members and personnel from ethnic minority backgrounds (4). One good example is the Committee’s opinion on gender equality (5), which resulted in the establishment of an internal group on gender equality.

2.   Introduction

2.1.

For the purpose of this opinion, ‘migrants’ refers to people born in countries other than the one in which they currently live, including European citizens and third-country nationals. ‘Ethnic minorities’ refers to people of racial, ethnic or religious minority backgrounds who are born in their country of residence. The opinion uses the more positive term ‘inclusion’ rather than ‘integration’, which is also commonly used in diversity discourse.

2.2.

Racism and discrimination can be individual, involving acts such as unequal treatment, harassment or hate crime. It can also be structural, involving institutional discrimination, represented by labour market inequality, or exclusion of social rights resulting from irregular employment or migration status (6). Diversity policies should therefore pay special attention to ‘racialised groups’ — marginalised communities that face structural or institutional racism, discrimination or profiling as a consequence of belonging to certain ethnic or religious groups.

2.3.

As a best practice, diversity management in the workplace involves businesses working with trade unions through collective bargaining — with the support of NGOs and governments — to co-develop strategies aimed at improving workforce inclusion and equality. Special attention should be given to companies in Member States with a low level of collective bargaining coverage and to micro and small enterprises, which also employ many migrants and ethnic minorities and which should be supported, through social dialogue, to develop diversity policies. This requires a participatory assessment of obstacles to diversity and inclusion in the workplace and how it will be managed, monitored and evaluated. Strategies can include addressing organisational structures which have discriminatory impacts (such as recruitment and hiring practices), ensuring diversity in governance structures and collecting data to report outcomes related to staff retention, career progression and equal treatment. Diversity management strategies can also include reviewing conflict resolution and internal complaint mechanisms, where management in consultation with trade unions establishes clear processes for how complaints are investigated and appropriate measures taken to remedy any rights violations, while protecting complainants from retaliation. Activities can include running training courses, setting up support groups and developing mentoring programmes. Furthermore, diversity policies can encourage ethnic minorities and migrants to take part in workplace consultative bodies such as workplace councils.

2.4.

It has been 20 years since the Race Equality Directive (2000/43/EC) was adopted. This directive established a European framework for promoting equal treatment between persons irrespective of racial or ethnic origin and set out positive action (diversity management). Likewise, it has been 20 years since the adoption of the Equality Framework Directive (2000/78/EC) to combat discrimination in the workplace. However, neither of these directives specifically prevent structural discrimination on the grounds of nationality or country of origin, and as such do not provide migrants with sufficient protection against discrimination. Furthermore, the Council failed to adopt the so-called Horizontal Directive intended to protect people from discrimination on several grounds both within and outside the workplace.

2.5.

Combating discrimination and promoting equality is also included in the EU Treaties and the European Pillar of Social Rights. In 2004, the Council adopted the Common Basic Principles for Immigrant Integration Policy in the EU. On the basis of these principles, the Zaragoza Declaration adopted in 2010 stressed the need to develop a new agenda on integration and established a set of indicators to analyse and monitor integration of migrants in Europe (7). As a result of this process, the European Website on Integration (EWSI) was established; this is a core resource for comparative research, monitoring of migrant integration strategies at country level and the assessment of best practices (8). The European Integration Network (EIN) was also established in the process, which brings together representatives of ministries responsible for migrant integration from all EU countries, plus Iceland and Norway, to consult with the Commission on integration policy (9).

2.6.

In 2010, the Commission created the EU Platform of Diversity Charters (10), which encourage organisations to develop and implement diversity and inclusion policies and offer a place to exchange and share experiences and best practices. Currently, there are 24 European Diversity Charters. By signing a charter, an organisation voluntarily commits to promoting diversity and equal opportunities in the workplace. Becoming a signatory to a Diversity Charter provides access to a vast peer network, publications and support tools for benchmarking, measuring and monitoring.

3.

General comments

3.1.

The situation of migrants and ethnic minorities has deteriorated recently, and we are seeing more attacks on those groups and an increase in hate speech fuelled by racists and xenophobic prejudices. The EU urgently needs to do more in this respect and one method is the promotion of diversity management.

3.2.

Furthermore, asylum seekers and migration inflows have put pressure on the capacity of integration services in the Member States. The next MFF funds such as EFS+ should have increased financial capacity to support inclusion policies.

3.3.

Recent research for the European Commission found that, on average across all Member States, 13 % of workers in ‘key professions’ are immigrants and that non-EU migrants are overrepresented in essential frontline service jobs in sectors such as healthcare, food, distribution and transport (11). Recent evidence collected by the ENAR shows that the crisis has had significant negative consequences for ethnic minorities in terms of housing, police abuse, employment, healthcare, hate speech and the capacity of civil society networks to engage in advocacy on their behalf (12). Migrants and ethnic minorities are, in many instances, at the forefront of tackling the pandemic and its consequences, while also disproportionately bearing the risks. Their contribution must be recognised, and the diversity strategy should play an important role in this. Recognition of their contribution should include the provision of quality working conditions, fair wages and social protection. Migrants should have access to the same standards of quality accommodation, education and health as those available to European citizens. Furthermore, policies to protect undocumented migrants should be implemented, with the participation and approval of the social partners and civil society organisations.

3.4.

An intersectional approach is important for diversity policies. Ethnic minorities and migrants are not a homogeneous group. Many are women — recent migration has been highly feminised. Some are young, have religious backgrounds, are disabled or belong to the LGBTIQ+ community. Often, they experience multiple forms of discrimination which arise from institutional and structural biases. This is especially the case in terms of access to the labour market and job segregation, linked for example to people’s residence status, hiring practices and racist prejudices about people of certain nationalities, religious or ethnic backgrounds.

3.5.

Ensuring universal access to public services is a major part of inclusion. In many instances, migrants and ethnic minority communities benefit from public-sector services. In other cases, they are employed by the public sector, which has specific responsibilities to promote equality. However, many migrants, especially asylum seekers and racialised groups also face significant barriers in accessing public services. Due to privatisation and a general lack of investment in public services, authorities also face major challenges in delivering equality policies.

3.6.

Many migrants undertake work below their skills or qualifications. The causes of this are often structural, such as when education, qualifications and skills acquired outside the EU are not recognised, resulting in discrimination in hiring practices and job segmentation. Insufficient language skills are often perceived as a barrier to employment, yet the advantages of cultural and linguistic diversity that migrant workers bring into the workplace are often overlooked. Diversity management can help to address this issue and, in doing so, increase the overall productivity of the workforce.

3.7.

Diversity policies should be implemented not only as an inclusion strategy for the group in question but also as an education tool for the EU population at large. To that end, there should be a greater focus on teaching older and younger people about ethnic diversity and migration, including the vital contribution these bring to our culture, society and economy. Furthermore, schools’ curricula should focus more on racism, including structural racism. The EU, together with the Member States and with the active participation of the social partners and community organisations, should initiate information campaigns to promote diversity and tackle racism at the European and national level.

3.8.

Education and training are also important for enhancing inclusion for migrant and ethnic minority communities. Training could also include volunteering or establishing various forms of mentoring schemes, with mentors being local citizens or migrants themselves. The COVID-19 crisis has underlined the importance of health awareness among migrant communities to protect themselves from the pandemic.

3.9.

Many social partners and civil society organisations engage in diversity management within their own structures, for example through migrants’ committees or self-organised groups within trade unions. Such structures not only help boost civil rights activism but also help improve democracy in the workplace and in society as a whole (13). Migrants who have no voting rights cannot participate in democratic decisions in their country of residence except through civil society organisations and trade unions.

3.10.

With adequate support, migrant workers contribute not only to the economy but also to social justice. Examples of trade unions organising migrant workers show that they can be more proactive than other workers in mobilising for social justice and better working conditions for all (14).

3.11.

Language learning plays an important role in the inclusion of migrants (15). All countries require language proficiency to become a citizen, yet few provide language courses for free (16). The EU and Member States should facilitate free language classes for migrants intending to become citizens.

3.12.

Diversity management is sometimes included in employers’ CSR policies and encouraged by some Member States. While CSR policies could be used to support diversity management principles, in the absence of engagement with trade unions and civil society relying on this to deliver diversity management is problematic.

3.13.

Some Member States are moving away from diversity strategies. In particular, CEE countries are using a model of guest worker migration that allows mainly short-stay visas for foreign workers. This model has not only proved economically inefficient, it has also endorsed discrimination and xenophobia (17).

3.14.

There are limited data on the ethnic and migration background of workers in the EU. However, these data are crucial in order to monitor and improve diversity in recruiting, career patterns and retention of workers. While the EESC acknowledges that there are some concerns that collecting such data could itself be a form of discrimination, it emphasises that EU law allows equality data collection where such data are provided voluntarily and according to data protection standards, including confidentiality (18). For equality policies to be effective, employers need to pursue best-practice approaches to diversity management that include the collection of equality data for the purpose of countering workplace discrimination. Collection of sensitive personal data concerning ethnicity, religion and migration background should only occur with proper safeguards in place, ensuring informed consent, self-identification, voluntary participation, respecting privacy and confidentiality of personal data and in consultation with groups at risk of discrimination. Various employers, as well as many trade unions and civil society organisations, already pursue such an approach to promote inclusion and improve diversity in their workforce and membership.

3.15.

A change in discourse on diversity management is needed, in particular relating to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Diversity should be an investment with long-term benefits and not seen as an administrative burden for SMEs or limited to multinational companies with large budgets. Inclusion polices should be implemented with the participation of trade unions by all companies, in particular those operating in sectors with a high proportion of migrant and ethnic minority workers such as catering, hospitality and construction.

3.16.

Diversity management should mean not only fulfilling quotas but proactively breaking down barriers in the workplace that create racial inequality. Structural racism results in situations where workers from ethnic minority and migrant backgrounds are disproportionally employed in precarious, more dangerous, low paid and temporary jobs compared to white workers. Cases of indirect racial discrimination are difficult to pursue legally and it is even more difficult to prove institutional racism. When taken seriously, diversity management strategies can be an effective tool to eliminate discrimination based on race and migration backgrounds.

4.   Comparison of diversity management strategies in four countries

4.1.

There are significant differences between France, Italy, Finland and Poland in terms of migration patterns, the labour market situation and the status of ethnic minorities. However, all four countries face common challenges regarding structural discrimination.

4.2.

A common factor in all four countries is the segmentation of the labour market, which sees migrant workers concentrated in low paid and precarious employment. Italy has the most extreme situation, followed by France. Poland is also trending in this direction. In these countries, there are civil society demands to regularise the status of migrants. In Finland, there is evidence of a wide pay gap between migrants and white Finns, but the data predates the Non-Discrimination Act adopted in 2014.

4.3.

The intersection of gender discrimination with migrant background of women emerges as a strong theme in all countries, with evidence indicating that women of colour experience the highest rates of employment discrimination, compared to white Europeans as well as men of the same ethnic groups.

4.4.

There are varying degrees of governmental, employer and civil society activity in relation to diversity management. Diversity Charters are active in all four countries, as part of the EU Platform of Diversity Charters. France adopted an anti-racism national plan in 2015 which promotes social dialogue. However, Finland is pursuing a strong regulatory approach which establishes discrimination as a crime under the penal code and establishes a legal obligation for employers with over 30 employees to develop plans to promote equality in the workplace.

4.5.

Marginalisation of Roma and Sinti is a common issue in all four countries — the group facing the highest levels of employment discrimination.

4.6.

Italy, as part of a research programme with Belgium and Sweden organised through its Diversity Charter, is working with employers and job seekers and sharing best practices of strategies for inclusion in the labour market.

4.7.

Migration inclusion policies in Poland are developed autonomously by some NGOs, local communities and social partner organisations. Due to fragmentation of the labour market, it is difficult for existing initiatives to reach migrants and protect their rights. Language seems to be less of an issue because the majority of migrants are from Ukraine, which has a language similar to Polish.

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(1)  OJ C 487, 28.12.2016, p. 7.

(2)  GEM (2018), Policy Paper 37, UNESCO.

(3)  Sweden, the Netherlands and France are examples of countries that have recently adopted such policies.

(4)  See the speech by European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen of 17 June 2020.

(5)  OJ C 240, 16.7.2019, p. 3.

(6)  ENAR, Shadow Report: Racism and Discrimination in Europe 2013-2017.

(7)  European Ministerial Conference on Inclusion, 16/04/2010.

(8)  EWSI.

(9)  EIN.

(10)  European Commission, EU Platform of Diversity Charters.

(11)  Fasani, F. & Mazza, J. (2020), Immigrant Key Workers: Their Contribution to Europe’s COVID-19 Response, Briefing Note JRC120537, European Commission.

(12)  ENAR (2020), Covid Impact Paper.

(13)  Rogalewski, A. (2018). Organising and mobilising Central and Eastern European migrant women working in care. Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, 24(4), 421–436.

(14)  Ibid.

(15)  Together in the EU — Promoting the participation of migrants and their descendants (2017), European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights.

(16)  www.sirius-project.eu

(17)  Penninx, R., Roosblad, J. (eds) (2000) Trade Unions, Immigration and Immigrants in Europe, 1960–1993. A Comparative Study of the Attitudes and Actions of Trade Unions in Seven West European Countries. New York: Berghahn.

(18)  ENAR (2016), Equality Data Collection: Facts and Principles.