These articles come to us from the Roma Virtual Network.
Roma strategy: MEPs call for real action
MEPs urge Member States to tackle discrimination of Roma people ©MaxPPP
MEPs criticized the European Commission for not going far enough to combat discrimination against Roma people and urged member states to prepare their national Roma strategies by the end of 2011 in a debate on 16 November in Strasbourg.
In view of recent anti-Roma incidents in several EU countries, MEPs voiced concerns that the Commission is not doing enough to address the issue.
Talking about the EU's Roma strategy, Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou promised that it will not remain an empty paper and will complement existing EU legislation on anti-discrimination.
Speaking on behalf of the Council, Elzbieta Radziszewska, Poland's Secretary of State for Equality, called it a shame that many of Europe's 10 million Roma people live in extreme poverty and isolation. "The Council will provide political support for member states to prepare their national strategies," she said.
"Adopting a Roma strategy is just the beginning," said Hungarian Christian Democrat Lívia Járóka, who drafted an EP report the subject earlier this year. "Complex programmes will be needed to achieve results."
Romanian Liberal Renate Weber urged the Commission to enforce fundamental rights and considers the expulsion of Roma from several member states as unacceptable, while Italian EFD member Mara Bizzotto was critical of the Roma strategy, calling it hypocritical. She wondered why the EU spends money on inclusion if the Roma population has no intention of integrating into the societies in which they live.
Italian EPP member Roberta Angelilli focused on the situation of Roma minors and cited a survey which said only 40% of Roma children attend primary school and 10% receive secondary education. The EU average for primary school attendance is 97%.
Austrian Socialist Hannes Swoboda complained that there is a lack of exact information on national strategies and on how EU funds are used to improve the lives of the Roma community.
The Commission adopted an EU Roma strategy in April 2011, which focuses on improving access to housing, education, jobs and healthcare.
EU countries have until the end of 2011 to submit strategies setting out how they want to achieve these goals.
Ms Vassiliou said that after the Commission has evaluated the national strategies, it will report to the EP on its findings early 2012.
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Another article from the European Voice
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Another article from the European Voice
Time to get robust on racism
The December deadline for member states to deliver their national Roma integration strategies is looming. The stakes are high, and time is short for governments to deliver on the Commission's request for targeted national strategies in health, housing, education, and employment to address the exclusion and discrimination faced by the Roma – Europe's youngest, largest and most disadvantaged ethnic minority with a population similar to that of Greece.
When the European Council endorsed the EU Framework for Roma this June, Viviane Reding, the European commissioner for justice, fundamental rights and citizenship, called it “a huge step forward for millions of Roma around Europe” and a strong signal from the EU that “the exclusion of the Roma is not compatible with our societal values and our economic model”.
As the European economic model takes an unprecedented battering, the consensus around ‘societal values' is looking badly bruised in a climate of rising intolerance, increasing intimidation and sometimes deadly violence against Roma in countries such as Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Hungary. Anti-Gypsyism has become a vote-catcher for far-right parties, and anti-Roma prejudice remains largely unchecked by the political mainstream across many member states of the EU.
Prejudice unchecked will derail progress
Social exclusion is not just ethically repugnant; it is also economic folly. The Commission found that a lack of capacity to absorb EU funds for Roma integration is compounded by weak inclusion strategies and bottlenecks at the national, regional, and local levels. The Commission has pledged to “surmount capacity issues” and work with member states “to address new needs, simplify delivery, and speed up the implementation of priorities”. This would mark a welcome departure for countries with dismal absorption capacity, such as Bulgaria and Romania where the percentage of new entrants to the labour market of Roma origin is estimated at 23% and 21% respectively.
The vast majority of working-age Roma lack sufficient education to participate successfully in the labour market. According to the World Bank, the result is that European countries lose billions of euros in productivity and in fiscal contributions to the governments. In terms of inclusive, growth bridging the education gap is ‘the economically smart choice to make'.
Smart choices seem thin on the ground this week, a week that marks the fourth anniversary of a European Court of Human Rights ruling against the Czech Republic that declared that segregating Roma children into ‘special schools' is unlawful and discriminatory. Four years on, there has been little change, segregation persists, and tens of thousands of Roma children in EU member states continue to be shunted into segregated schools in defiance of the court's ruling.
Social inclusion strategies cannot succeed without resolute action to combat such racism and discrimination. Put simply, prejudice unchecked will derail progress. The European Parliament has called on the European Commission to link social inclusion priorities to a clear set of objectives that included protection of citizens against discrimination in all fields of life; promotion of social dialogue between Roma and non-Roma to combat racism and xenophobia; and for the Commission, as guardian of the treaties, to ensure full implementation of legislation and appropriate sanctions against racially motivated crimes. The linkage somehow got lost along the way between first and final drafts, but was reaffirmed in the Council conclusions in June, which invited the Commission to pursue rigorous monitoring to combat discrimination based on ethnic origin.
The Commission is entirely correct in its insistence that the primary responsibility for safeguarding the rights, well-being, and security of citizens lies with national governments. However, if the EU Framework for Roma is to live up to its billing as ‘10 years to make a difference', then the Commission must do everything within its remit and competences to take up the Council's invitation to get robust on racism. It should signal to member states that nothing less than zero tolerance will suffice when it comes to anti-Gypsyism and all forms of discrimination against Roma.
Bernard Rorke is the director of research and international advocacy at Open Society Roma Initiatives.
When the European Council endorsed the EU Framework for Roma this June, Viviane Reding, the European commissioner for justice, fundamental rights and citizenship, called it “a huge step forward for millions of Roma around Europe” and a strong signal from the EU that “the exclusion of the Roma is not compatible with our societal values and our economic model”.
As the European economic model takes an unprecedented battering, the consensus around ‘societal values' is looking badly bruised in a climate of rising intolerance, increasing intimidation and sometimes deadly violence against Roma in countries such as Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Hungary. Anti-Gypsyism has become a vote-catcher for far-right parties, and anti-Roma prejudice remains largely unchecked by the political mainstream across many member states of the EU.
The vast majority of working-age Roma lack sufficient education to participate successfully in the labour market. According to the World Bank, the result is that European countries lose billions of euros in productivity and in fiscal contributions to the governments. In terms of inclusive, growth bridging the education gap is ‘the economically smart choice to make'.
Smart choices seem thin on the ground this week, a week that marks the fourth anniversary of a European Court of Human Rights ruling against the Czech Republic that declared that segregating Roma children into ‘special schools' is unlawful and discriminatory. Four years on, there has been little change, segregation persists, and tens of thousands of Roma children in EU member states continue to be shunted into segregated schools in defiance of the court's ruling.
Social inclusion strategies cannot succeed without resolute action to combat such racism and discrimination. Put simply, prejudice unchecked will derail progress. The European Parliament has called on the European Commission to link social inclusion priorities to a clear set of objectives that included protection of citizens against discrimination in all fields of life; promotion of social dialogue between Roma and non-Roma to combat racism and xenophobia; and for the Commission, as guardian of the treaties, to ensure full implementation of legislation and appropriate sanctions against racially motivated crimes. The linkage somehow got lost along the way between first and final drafts, but was reaffirmed in the Council conclusions in June, which invited the Commission to pursue rigorous monitoring to combat discrimination based on ethnic origin.
The Commission is entirely correct in its insistence that the primary responsibility for safeguarding the rights, well-being, and security of citizens lies with national governments. However, if the EU Framework for Roma is to live up to its billing as ‘10 years to make a difference', then the Commission must do everything within its remit and competences to take up the Council's invitation to get robust on racism. It should signal to member states that nothing less than zero tolerance will suffice when it comes to anti-Gypsyism and all forms of discrimination against Roma.
Bernard Rorke is the director of research and international advocacy at Open Society Roma Initiatives.
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