The EU Agency for Fundamental Fights on Wednesday, said black people face “pervasive’’ discrimination throughout the European Union, a EU report said.

“People of African descent in Europe have poorer housing and access to jobs, and on the streets, many suffer from racial harassment and police checks,’’ the report said.

Younger black people are particularly vulnerable to discrimination at work and in the job market.

Up to 76 per cent are not in work, education or training in some EU countries, compared to 8 per cent of the population as a whole.

The report added that 45 per cent of black people lived in overcrowded housing, compared to 17 per cent of the general population.

According to it, only 15 per cent are homeowners as opposed to 70 per cent of the general population.

“Almost one in three black people reported having suffered racial harassment in the previous five years while 24 per cent had been stopped by the police.
“Of those stopped by the police, 41 per cent felt that the stop amounted to racial profiling,’’ the report said.

The agency called on member states to develop practical guidance for police agents so they could avoid unlawful profiling.

“It is a reality, both shameful and infuriating: racism based on the colour of a person’s skin remains a pervasive scourge throughout the European Union,’’ agency director Michael O’Flaherty said.

The report, using data from 12 EU countries, is based on mass survey, collected from over 25,500 people with an immigrant or ethnic minority background, including almost 6,000 black people.