08 SEP 2010

By Valentina Pop

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Faced with an avalanche of criticism from MEPs, EU fundamental rights commissioner Viviane Reding said she would not hesitate to challenge France in court if there is "solid proof" that it violated EU law when deporting Roma to Romania and Bulgaria.

"Our legal services continue to analyse what are the facts on the ground. We can't just go there and declare war on a member state," Ms Reding defended herself in front of furious MEPs who deemed her initial speech "scandalous" for not saying clearly if France was in breach of EU law or not.

"You can be assured that if there is legal evidence on France or any other country [breaking EU law] normally I win this in front of the court."

The commission's experts were still examining if all the roughly 900 Roma deported from France in August had received notice one month, if the measure was proportionate and if each case was evaluated individually - all criteria required by EU law.

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Italy resumes anti-Roma action in teeth of EP vote (EUobserver)