BERLIN (EJP)--- German Justice Minister Brigitte Zypries has said she is confident she can push through new rules which would make denying the Holocaust a crime in the entire European Union.

"One or the other EU member states has serious concerns about it, but I am hopeful that we will make progress," she told reporters in the framework of an informal meeting of EU justice and interior ministers in Dresden last Tuesday.

Germany currently holds the rotating EU presidency.

Zypries said that she wants the EU 27 member states to adopt the proposed legislation "as soon as possible."

"While preserving the freedom of expression we have to prevent inciting hatred," Italian European Commissioner Franco Frattini, said.

However, it would be up to national governments to decide on the length of jail sentences for people inciting racism and xenophobia, he added.

Criminalisation sought

The German proposal also seeks to criminalise racist statements that are an incitement to violence against a specific person or group.

While unanimous in their condemnation of those who deny the Holocaust, EU leaders are split over whether to criminalise such acts.

Germany views a common EU law as a moral obligation but countries like Britain, Italy and Denmark have resisted common rules as violating the civil liberties.

Two years ago, the Luxembourg EU presidency tried to push through legislation to unify legal standards for Holocaust denial, but was blocked by Italy on the grounds that the proposed rules breached freedom of expression and speech.

Minister Zypries said last week that the new Italian government of Prime Minister Romano Prodi has dropped its opposition.

Inciting hatred attacked

The Luxembourg blueprint, which Germany is studying with a view toward copying it, says that racist declarations or Holocaust denial will not be prosecuted if they are expressed in a way that does not incite hatred against an individual or group of people.


Among EU members, laws against denying Holocaust exist in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany and Spain.

In a recent high-profile case, controversial British historian David Irving spent 13 months in jail in Austria for challenging the Holocaust before being released last month and expelled to Britain.

The German minister’s proposal is part of a Europe-wide initiative to curb extreme-right wing extremism.

The European proposals include also the introduction of minimum sentences for stirring up racial hatred and incitement to violence, and for the use of the Nazi swastika symbol.

This comes amid rising rates of racially motivated crime in Germany.