Um, compared to the preceeding period when tolerance seemed to be increasing. For some reason you want a date, so I'd say generally 10 years ago things were more mellow on the immigration/race front for western EU countries like Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, etc..

It's not a secret. It's been a much bigger-than-usual issue in politics and people's general sentiments (although the politics are somewhat cyclical...right, left, right, left). Never heard of Le Pen, Pim Fortuyn, or Haider, for instance? They came to prominence rather late in their careers because the time became ripe for a bunch of racists.