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 At the end of my nine years as Director of the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia—now the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights—I would like to share my experience in addressing racial discrimination. I want to focus on eight areas of needs and opportunities, which remain largely unexplored and which, I believe, need to be tackled more thoroughly in political and public debates. I am deeply convinced that, together, we can find forward-looking solutions that will better enable our changing societies to face the future.

We need a change in attitudes, from a climate of fear to a climate of hope. Some 80 million people belonging to ethnic, cultural or religious minorities live in the European Union (EU) today, representing around 16 per cent of the population—and the numbers are increasing. In the coming years, economic and demographic developments will create an even greater demand for immigration. The European Commission estimates that by 2030 the working population of the EU will decline drastically, falling by 20 million. In many cities, 30 to 40 per cent of children have an immigrant background; in some, it is as high as 60 to 70 per cent. The future of our society is in their hands—they need a future to look forward to. Studies show that successful societies are those characterized by the three Ts: talent, technology and tolerance. We need to realize that countries with a clear, positive attitude to immigration are more likely to attain their potential.

We must place greater emphasis on the positive elements of immigration and make these advantages clear. This requires new ways of thinking, especially on the part of politicians and the media. A clear stance has to be adopted by politicians on the topic of immigration, pointing out opportunities while not concealing possible problems. The value of immigration should be emphasized in political manifestos and resolutions, action plans and party programmes. The scientific community should formulate and analyze pro-immigration arguments for public debate.

We must improve our ability to deal with our emotions, projections and prejudices—in particular fear, envy and hate. Fears and prejudices have a profound impact on the coexistence of immigrants, minorities and local populations. According to a Eurobarometer survey, 80 per cent of Europeans have had no negative experiences with minorities in their daily lives. Nevertheless, more than half have serious reservations against a multicultural society. Prejudice is often strongest in areas with a small proportion of minorities. In Germany, for example, Berlin-Brandenburg has an immigrant population of 2 per cent, but prejudice is higher than in Frankfurt, where the immigrant population is at 26 per cent. This shows, not that high levels of immigration lead to less prejudice, but that people’s notions of reality are more powerful than reality itself.

Although we witness the reality of our multicultural society all around us—on trains, in schools, in restaurants—people have denied the reality of a multicultural society for decades, demonstrating just how deeply we are affected by the “fear of the other”. As a result, addressing this pervasive fear of foreigners has scarcely had any influence on the social debates and formulation of policies concerning minorities or on public relations work. The issues of “dealing with emotions” and “otherness” must be incorporated into the development of strategies, action programmes and initiatives, and into public relations and the media. For example, specific curricula on “developing emotional competence” should be introduced in schools, as well as in the training of teachers and journalists. More consideration should be given to people’s perceptions—as opposed to mere facts—both in analyses and in the development of approaches to the complex subject of immigration.

We must find new forms of collaboration among different sections of society in all occupational groups, with cooperation from the media. Issues of immigration and social cohesion affect almost all areas of life—culture and education, the economy, the labour market, to name a few—and permeate every political level. We need sustainable forms of cooperation to implement holistic problem-solving approaches. National and local integration summits, commissions and councils will only gain acceptance if they involve immigrants themselves. Their members should include representatives of ethnic, religious and cultural minorities, immigrant groups, trade unions, employer organizations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), religious communities, political parties and the media. This would make it possible to reach common agreements and develop solutions. Cooperation with the media is of particular importance. Few other sectors have as much power to influence our feelings. Few other professions use images and music so effectively to stir up our emotions.

We need sustainable structures to create new forms of cooperation and an ongoing transfer of knowledge. We should, for example, organize annual meetings at the European level, where politicians, the media, the scientific community, NGOs, minorities and immigrants work together to identify key issues and monitor progress. We need to establish commissions, councils and other bodies, both locally and nationally, to facilitate broad-based participation, with the involvement of the media.

In all our projections, initiatives, publications and public statements, we must adopt a far more solution-oriented perspective. Having worked for a quarter century in national and European institutions, I can safely say that our approaches are often too problem-oriented and not solution-oriented enough. Without a positive approach, we are bound to ignore clearly articulated needs for good practice and viable solutions. Solution-oriented approaches are far more effective, as they generate an entirely different kind of motivation and facilitate new, innovative initiatives. We expend too much energy on examining negative phenomena and make too little use of our capacity to do what is needed to create lasting change, devise practical solutions and, above all, implement them. The success factors behind examples of good practice should be analyzed, as should their transferability to other regions and countries.