The European Commission has instructed the Irish Government to align its legislation with EU laws on combating racism and xenophobia. The Commission highlighted that Irish courts were not including racist or xenophobic motivations as aggravating factors in criminal offenses, such as Holocaust denial.
The Commission issued a “letter of formal notice” to Ireland, identifying deficiencies in Irish law regarding incitement to hatred or violence. If Ireland fails to address these issues within two months, the Commission may escalate the matter to the European Court of Justice.
Similar “reasoned opinions” were also sent to Bulgaria and Estonia, concerning their alleged failure to align national laws with EU anti-racism and xenophobia laws.
This infringement notice stems from a 2008 EU law aimed at combating racism and xenophobia, which member states, including Ireland, were required to implement. Since 2014, the Commission has had the authority to enforce full adoption of this law through legal measures.
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