Bruno Alomar, economist, former senior official at the European Commission. Author of Reform or insignificance: 10 years to save the European Union (Éd. École de guerre 2018)
In an interview with Euractiv on June 26, 2020, Helena Dalli, European Commissioner for Equality, asked about the existence of "structural racism" at the European Commission said: "There is a prejudice which we have not not even aware. And yes, there is structural racism ”.
The accusation is very serious. The European Commission is the heart of the European Union system. The EU, it should be remembered, is based on a system of values, which justifies the existence of Article 7 of the Treaty which makes it possible to sanction a Member State which departs from it. So what is Commissioner Dalli based on when making such a judgment? Nothing. Mrs Dalli could speak after an in-depth audit had been carried out within the Commission following proven racist acts. She could formulate an opinion after a long career at the European Commission allowing her to express an experience judgment on the habits and customs of this institution. Nothing of the sort. Mrs Dalli, confusing politics and emotion, undoubtedly sought to show that Europe, which decidedly imitates the United States without thinking, had its part to play in the George Floyd affair. Allow the author, who has worked for almost five years at the European Commission and is in daily contact with European officials, to say: no, there is no structural racism at the Commission European!
Let us be clear: Commission officials are not without reproach, as is the management of human resources at the Commission. The former, it is a fact, without necessarily corresponding to the "stateless airport " of which General de Gaulle spoke, are often disconnected from the reality experienced by the peoples who have delegated responsibility to them. In terms of human resource management, there is also much to say about an institution that is quick to teach others lessons, without applying them to itself. Let us think here of the scandal that constituted the Selmayr affair or the extraordinary departure of the HRD, Mrs. Irène Souka.
Commissioner Dalli takes the liberty of throwing shame on tens of thousands of European civil servants, on whom she bases a prejudice of structural racism.The fact remains that the seriousness of Commissioner Dalli's comments must be assessed in several ways.
First, Commissioner Dalli allows herself to cast disgrace on tens of thousands of European civil servants, on whom she bases a prejudice of structural racism. Is there behavior more contrary to respect, benevolence, attachment to the rights of defense? Is there a more spectacular way for an authority to alienate those who are placed under its responsibility? Above all, what a scandalous image Madame Dalli sends the Commission back to the world! As if the European Commission, and more generally the EU, were not weakened enough and the European project in danger, to the point that the highest authorities ended up admitting it? The reality, it must be said again, is not this one: the vast majority of European civil servants are all the more inclined to tolerance and respect, as they bathe in a broth where nationalities are intermingle constantly. This is even more the case with the Commission, which is, by construction, the most supranational of the European institutions.
Then, Commissioner Dalli cannot ignore the fact that she tramples on the principle of competition, at the heart of the European civil service. It is the principles of the competition and the existence of a statute which are the foundations both of the competence of European officials and of their impartiality. What is Ms. Dalli about to offer us, following in the footsteps of the strange remarks made by President Von der Leyen? Quotas by "color"? So we would reserve a certain number of senior positions for such and such a person not because he or she is competent, but according to the color of his skin? This is a dangerous slope which already explains the loss of motivation of many European civil servants: the feeling that their career does not owe to their merits but to other considerations.
Commissioner Dalli cannot ignore the fact that she tramples on the principle of competition, at the heart of the European civil service.Finally, and above all, Commissioner Dalli, without knowing it, by attacking so violently a system of which she is, by her function, one of the pillars, has perhaps expressed what is the real disease of the EU: the self-hatred. Mrs Dalli, like so many representatives of the European "elites", does not love herself. This is undoubtedly the key to the European crisis: how can European leaders defend the interests of Europeans, when they are consumed by rejection of themselves?
Ultimately, there is no real answer to these questions. Let it be allowed to formulate a hypothesis: a new reform of the statute of the European public service is looming. Will we want to accentuate cronyism by giving ourselves the possibility of appointments of convenience? Do we plan to give - with the consent of France, on the front line on the subject - new stabs to the status of European civil servants? One may ask. How do you say in Maltese: "When you want to get rid of your dog, you accuse him of rabies"?
