The European Court of Justice (ECJ) found on Thursday that Denmark’s so-called “ghetto law” may be discriminatory, but said the country’s own courts need to decide whether it goes too far.
The law, passed in 2018, allows the government to reduce public housing in neighborhoods where the majority of residents are from “non-Western” backgrounds.
The Danish government says the law is meant to help people integrate better by breaking up “parallel societies”.
What does Denmark’s ‘Ghetto’ law say?
- Danish law classifies neighborhoods based on unemployment, crime, education, income, and immigrant population.
- Areas where more than half of the residents are “non-Western” and have at least two social problems are called “transition areas”.
- A government list defines which countries are considered “Western”, which includes all EU member states.
- Public housing groups must cut social housing in “transition areas” by 40% by 2030.
- They do this by selling, demolishing, converting or terminating leases on homes.
- The policy has drawn criticism from rights groups, affected residents, and the United Nations.
What did the ECJ find?
Residents of Copenhagen’s Mjolnirparken estate challenged the measure in 2020, arguing that it unfairly targets ethnic minorities. The Danish courts then sought guidance from the European Court of Justice.
The ECJ said that Danish courts must decide whether the criteria specified in the law on public accommodation are based on people’s ethnic origin and would cause them disadvantage. The ECJ emphasizes that under EU law, neither nationality nor country of birth is sufficient to determine ethnic origin. Rather, it is assessed on the basis of many factors.
Eddy Khawaja, a lawyer for Mjolnirparken residents facing eviction, said the decision shows that the criterion of 50% “non-Western” residents “may sound neutral on paper, but does not prevent residents from being subject to direct or indirect discrimination.”
Denmark’s Ministry of Social Affairs and Housing said the case will now return to Denmark’s Eastern High Court and that the ministry will carefully read the European Court’s decision.
Edited by: Dmytro Lyubenko