Brussels: France's deportations of gypsies are "a disgrace" and probably break EU law, the European Union's executive body declared yesterday in a stinging rebuke that set up a showdown with French President Nicolas Sarkozy's conservative government.
In recent weeks, French authorities have dismantled more than 100 illegal camps and deported more than 1,000 gypsies, also known as Roma, mainly back to Romania, in a crackdown that has drawn international condemnation.
‘Appalled'
EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding said she was appalled by the expulsions, "which gave that impression that people are being removed from a member state of the European Union just because they belong to an ethnic minority."
"[This] is a situation that I had thought that Europe would not have to witness again after the Second World War," she told a news conference, adding "the commission will have no choice but to initiate infringement procedures against France."
France could ultimately be slapped with a fine by the European Court of Justice if its expulsions are found to have breached EU law.
The crackdown continued Tuesday as a chartered Airbus took off from Marseille for Bucharest with 69 Roma on board, police officials said. They received a stipend of up to 300 euros (Dh1,427) per person for repatriation.
