PARIS (EJP)---The European Jewish Congress will meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel next Tuesday in Berlin to raise its concerns about the rise of anti-Semitism in Europe, discuss proposals to harmonise hate crime legislation throughout the European Union, and to discuss the future of the 27-member bloc.

Germany currently holds the EU rotating presidency.

The announcement of the meeting, made by the Jewish body on Friday, came as the EU was set to this weekend celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome which established the European Economic Community, the fore-runner of the European Union.

“Europe’s Jewish communities have always been full partners in the European project and this weekend is an opportunity for them to celebrate their European identity,” Pierre Besnainou, president of the European Jewish Congress, said.

“Like all other Europeans, we too will reflect on the future of the Union and I look forward to sharing our contributions, concerns and ideas with the German Chancellor.

“On the fiftieth anniversary of the European Union, this heavily symbolic meeting between the highest representative of European Jewry and the German Presidency of the European Union is a testament to the laudable progress that Europe has made.”

The Paris-based EJC is a federation of 38 national Jewish communities in Europe.

Holocaust denial 

Despite repeated appeals by EU leaders to fight it, anti-Semitism has been reported as being on the rise in Europe in the latest years, especially in France, the UK and Germany, the countries with the largest Jewish communities.

Citing its particular historic responsibility due to its Nazi past, Germany has proposed the other EU member states adopt a EU-wide legislation that would make Holocaust denial a crime in the whole European Union.

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

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

Such legislation requires unanimity among the 27 EU member states.

Against a backdrop of increasing racist attacks in Europe, a German blueprint says that racist declarations or Holocaust denial would not be prosecuted if they were expressed in a way that did not incite hatred against an individual or group of people.

Last month, unknown assailants sprayed swastikas and anti-Semitic slogans on the walls of a Jewish school in Berlin and threw a smoke bomb into the building. The bomb failed to ignite and fortunately the school was unoccupied at the time.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, the EU German Presidency condemned all forms of racism, racial discrimination, intolerance and discrimination. It urged member states “to adopt effective measures to combat the symptoms and causes of racism and discrimination” and “to effectively guarantee the freedom of thought, conscience, religion and belief to all without distinction.

The declaration was made on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.