22 February 2002
The European Ombudsman, Jacob Söderman, said he was dissatisfied with the commission's efforts to tackle its under-representation of ethnic minorities.
More than 30 million people from different ethnic minorities live in the EU, yet 'hardly any' are employed by its institutions.
'The commission considers the under-representation of ethnic minorities in the workforce of the community institutions and bodies to result from a disproportionately small number of applications from them. It is, however, unable to provide evidence to exclude other possible explanations,' his report said.
Such a lack of action goes against the commission's own equal opportunities' rules, such as the European Council employment guidelines and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU, Söderman added.
The commission must respond to the ombudsman's findings by April 30.
PFfeb2002
