Newsroom

The Roma policy that is to be developed should not target exclusively the ethnic Roma population, but also those who are forced to live under similar socio-economic conditions. The Hungarian Presidency will aim to pursue a horizontal approach, which means that the integration of the Roma minority into the majority society should be an objective for all relevant sectoral policies. The social pillar of the Europe 2020 strategy can play an especially important role in this, since it incorporates the fight against poverty, the objective of increased employment, the decrease in the number of school absentees and the increase of those with higher education diploma. Improvement of the situation of the Roma people can be linked with these objectives on the European level also. In the field of the fight against poverty, Hungary would also attach especially great importance to reducing child poverty.

BACKGROUND

The size of the Roma population in Europe is estimated to be 10-12 million, thus the Roma constitute the largest ethnic minority of the continent. Although there is a Roma community living in all the 27 Member States, the largest ones in live in Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Greece. The situation of the Roma is still characterized by prevailing discrimination, social and often economic exclusion: according to data of the European Commission, poverty and unemployment is high among the Roma population; and prejudices still inflict them.

In Europe, 16% of the population lives in poverty and every fifth child lives under the threshold of poverty.

Numerous Commission documents and Council conclusions deal with the European management of the situation of the Roma and the poor. Among others, the closing document adopted by the Ministers of Employment and Social Affairs at their meeting on 8-9^th June 2009 on the “Social inclusion of the Roma”, which sets forth the ten common basic principles on Roma inclusion, and the Spanish-Belgian-Hungarian Trio Presidency that began on 1^st January 2010, also set forth its plans for action in a joint statement (8-9^th April 2010, Córdoba). One of the flagship initiatives of the Europe 2020 program is the establishment of the “European Platform against Poverty”, whereas the Employment and Social Affairs Council held on the 6^th December 2010 issued a declaration on the tasks of the future. The “European Platform against Poverty” deals with the issue of child poverty and the integration of marginalized groups, including the Roma.

The crisis situation that developed following the deportations in France in the summer of 2010 demonstrated that Roma integration is not only a task for Eastern Europe, but is a joint responsibility of the European institutions and Member States. The rotating Presidency of the first half of 2011 shares the opinion of the European Commission that social and economic inclusion has to be supported with every available tool and policy instrument. To this end the European Commission established a Commission Task Force in 7^th September 2010 to review the efficient spending of Member State and EU funds available for the social inclusion of Roma. The Task Force prepared its report by December 2010.   

THE SIX MONTHS OF THE HUNGARIAN PRESIDENCY

The framework for action of the rotating Hungarian Presidency is defined by the Trio Program, the Council conclusions adopted during the Spanish and the Belgian Presidency on the social inclusion of the Roma and on poverty, the conferences and summits organized by the Belgian Presidency about the fight against poverty (2-3^rd September 2010.: Conference on Child Poverty, 14-16^th November 2010.: Summit on Equal Opportunities, 9-10^th December: Conference on the Homelessness) as well as the preparative work performed by the Commission.

Based on the work of the Task Force, the European Commission will prepare the European Framework of National Roma Inclusion Strategies by the beginning of April 2011, which will provide guidance for Member States when preparing their own Roma integration strategies, thereby contributing to a more efficient utilization of existing EU funds. Following the presentation of the statement, the Council of the relevant Ministers will conduct their debate. Assessment of the different professional considerations will take place at the European Council meeting in June 2011.  

The Roma policy that is to be developed should not assist exclusively the population of Roma ethnic origins, but also those who are forced to live under similar socio-economic conditions; this is derived from the basic principle of “explicit but not exclusive targeting”. The Hungarian Presidency will aim to pursue a horizontal approach, which means the integration of the Roma into the majority society should be an objective for all relevant sectoral policies. Hungary advocates that the integration of the Roma and other marginalized social groups should be in the focus of the national reform programs of Member States.

The Hungarian Presidency wishes to play an active role in collecting and sharing best practices. It would review Member State, EU and other international programs running in parallel, with a view to eliminate duplications and bottlenecks in the future. Hungary supports the initiative of the European Commission to make access easier to EU funds  and at the same time urges for the strengthening of monitoring.

The Hungarian Presidency will do its utmost in the frameworks mentioned above and also at the June meeting of the Employment, Social, Health and Consumer Protection Council to ensure that Member States do not lose sight of their obligations undertaken, with a view to reducing child poverty.

OBJECTIVES

The most important objective of the Hungarian Presidency will be to ensure that the relevant Council formations discuss the European framework for Member States Roma inclusion policies to be developed by the European Commission. The results of this will be assessed by the General Affairs Council of the Foreign and EU Affairs Ministers, then submitted to the Heads of State and Government, who are expected to discuss the issue in June 2011, in order to reaffirm the Framework Strategy that will serve as the basis of future EU Roma Policy.

The Hungarian Presidency would like to avoid having European politics manage the situation of the Roma and the poor, especially the situation of children, in isolation from other EU policies. This is why it will do its utmost to ensure that this issue is handled in a horizontal manner in the course of the implementation of the Europe 2020 strategy.  

Source and further info: http://www.eu2011.hu/developing-european-roma-policy