"Hate, hate groups and hate crimes: Fighting xenophobia in the European Union"

This paper investigates the rising occurrences, sources, and potential solutions to hate crimes and hate activities as they relate to the European Union. It begins with an examination of the problem, identifying the sources of hate crimes in the EU by focusing on variables such as ethnicity, religion, and race. Once the reader is familiar with the causes and motivations of hate, and the concomitant social aspects and stigmas that accompany hate, we move on to examine intergovernmental cooperation between EU institutions on the one-hand, and nationstate law enforcement agencies on the other. Here, case studies from the United Kingdom and Germany are utilized to analyze "best practices" that have arisen from this member state-EU interaction. This case-study portion is based largely upon interviews conducted in Europe during the summer of 2000. This paper concludes by suggesting a new-and potentially controversial-direction that the EU and its member states might take in order to reduce the number of hate crimes that occur in the European Union