Senate rejects European Commission’s recommendation on Roma-focused legislation

The Czech Senate has rejected a recommendation from the European Commission to introduce special measures focused specifically on the Romany minority. Senators rejected the recommendation based on the fact that creating legislation based on ethnicity is discriminatory and would go against the Czech Constitution. Deputy chairman Zdeněk Škromách said on Wednesday that the commission should not issue such blanket recommendations to all the member states, and that helping socially marginalized groups is a matter for national policy, based on the specific national context.