A new report released Monday by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights suggests that anti-Semitic incidents decreased on the continent in 2007 and 2008. However, the report emphasized, most EU states do not collect meaningful data on anti-Semitism.
Only Austria, Belgium, Britain, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden provided statistical data that could be tracked over the 2007-2008 period. "The agency's data collection work 
"In Europe, anti-Semitism is a very old and deeply rooted cultural trait." -- from the EU report
shows that most member states do not have official or even unofficial data and statistics on anti-Semitic incidents," the report says.
The 2007-08 drop in manifestations of European anti-Semitism follows several periods that saw a marked increase, according to the report, with the most recent rise occurring in 2006. However, the EU researchers noted, "Sufficient and comparable data are not available to calculate an overall trend in anti-Semitic activity in the European Union for the period 2001-2008." Three nations - France, Germany and Sweden - had enough data for the entire eight-year period "allowing for a trend analysis of recorded anti-Semitic crimes." Analyzing those nations' records, the report concluded that "recorded anti-Semitic crime has increased significantly over a period of years in France (2001-2007), but only very slightly or not at all in Germany and in Sweden."
The EU report states that it would be a "superficial judgement" to assume that those countries with high figures actually have the highest levels of anti-Semitism. "Instead," the report says, "whilst high figures in a Member State do indicate that a serious problem exists, they also indicate that this Member State is taking the problem seriously." A given state with clear data, according to the report's explanation, is among those few that actually tracks anti-Semitism.
Explaining the Data
The latest EU report attempts to offer other explanations for the data, repeatedly linking increases in anti-Semitic crimes in Europe with "periods of heightened conflict in the Middle East...." Calling post-2000 anti-Semitic actions "new anti-Semitism", the report acknowledges that it is "characterised primarily by the vilification of Israel as the 'Jewish collective' and perpetrated primarily by members of Europe's Muslim population."
Elsewhere in the report, the EU human rights agency declared: "In Europe, anti-Semitism is a very old and deeply rooted cultural trait.... However, in the Arab and Muslim world it is rather the political conflict with Israel that led to a development of anti-Semitism rather than a dominant a priori prejudice against Jews. It is therefore reasonable to assume that anti-Semitism in European Muslim communities is directly linked with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and especially the current crisis that began in 2000...."
At the tail end of 2008, with the start of Israel's counter-terrorism operation in Gaza, anti-Semitic incidents did in fact show an increase, the report notes. "This recent surge in anti-Semitic incidents is reason for great concern," agency director Morten Kjaerum said according to a French news agency report. "While it is too early to draw conclusions, there are indications that this rise could partly be affected by the situation in the Middle East, as well as by the global financial crisis."
'Too Little, Too Late'
In response to the EU agency's statement on anti-Semitism, the European Jewish Congress (EJC), an umbrella organization for Jewish communities in Europe, said the report was "insufficient".
Commenting on the report, EJC President Dr. Moshe Kantor said, "Although we welcome the FRA study and the Director's concern, the EJC has long been pointing out this disturbing trend. Our message has unfortunately fallen upon deaf ears in the EU and this report is too little, too late."
The EJC is organizing, under the patronage of the European Parliament, a one-day symposium on anti-Semitism on March 30 in Brussels. Community experts, European anti-racism institutions and government ministers have been invited. The EJC symposium seeks to point out lacunas in the reporting and monitoring of anti-Semitism in the EU.