COPENHAGEN, Dec 18 (Reuters) - The EU's top court ruled on Thursday that Denmark's 2018 "ghetto law," which relocates residents from minority-heavy areas, could amount to ethnic discrimination, dealing a blow to the country's integration policy.
While many European governments once considered Denmark's immigration policies too strict, the Nordic country has recently come to be viewed as a pioneer inspiring an overhaul in other countries.
Denmark's government has said that the housing legislation aims to promote further integration.
But its implementation - including the demolition of social housing units in Copenhagen and elsewhere - has drawn criticism from rights groups, those affected, and the United Nations.
HIGHER RISK OF EARLY LEASE TERMINATION AND EVICTION
At the core of the European Court of Justice case is whether Denmark's use of the term "ethnic origin" as a criterion for classifying neighbourhoods violated EU anti-discrimination laws.
In its preliminary ruling, the ECJ stated that the law might lead to an increased risk of early lease termination and eviction for residents of these areas compared to those in neighbourhoods with similar socioeconomic conditions but lower levels of immigration.
The Danish Ministry of Social Affairs and Housing said the case would now return to Denmark's Eastern High Court, and that the ministry would read the European court's verdict carefully.
In preliminary rulings, the ECJ does not decide the dispute itself but provides a binding interpretation for national courts. The final decision rests with Danish courts, the ECJ said.
LAWYER POSITIVELY SURPRISED BY RULING
Eddie Khawaja, a lawyer for residents facing eviction from Copenhagen's Mjolnerparken, who launched a legal challenge in 2020, said he was positively surprised by the ruling, noting "it is very difficult to see any elements that support our counterpart's argument that this is a neutral criterion."
Denmark designates a neighbourhood a "transformation area" if more than 50% of residents are non-Western immigrants or their descendants, and where at least two other criteria related to education, income, crime and workforce participation are met.
The law requires public housing associations to reduce the proportion of public housing units in the neighbourhoods to 40% by January 2030.
"The interpretation is clear," Professor Frederik Vaage, of the University of Southern Denmark, told Reuters.
"The plaintiffs have won the case, securing a successful interpretation of EU law."
(Reporting by Louise Breusch Rasmussen and Soren Sirich Jeppesen, editing by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen, Sharon Singleton and Ros Russell)
