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Roma inclusion in a debate by the European Parliament

The plight of Europe's 10 million Roma population will fall under the spotlight Tuesday afternoon (9th March) when MEPs discuss an upcoming Roma summit. They will be putting questions to the European Commission and Council of Ministers about what is being done to improve the plight of the Roma. Physical and verbal violence and unequal access to services are just some of the issues that will be raised.

Roma inclusion has become a European topic. The second European Roma summit, hosted by the Spanish Presidency on 8 April 2010 in Cordoba, is an opportunity to review achievements and recognise further challenges.

European structural and pre-accession funds offer considerable opportunities to promote Roma inclusion. However, it appears that their impact on the socio-economic situation of Roma has so far been limited. What preliminary conclusions does the Commission draw from ongoing evaluations in this regard? What measures will the Commission take to ensure that revisions of operational programmes and source allocation procedures reflect the priority attached to promoting Roma inclusion? How will the Commission ensure that the Common Basic Principles on Roma Inclusion(1) are fully taken into account in such revisions? What are the possible legislative/regulative tools to be introduced by the Commission to guarantee (as conditionality) equal opportunities for Roma when European funds are used?

In particular, given the low absorption rate of structural and pre-accession funds in some Member States and (potential) candidate countries, in what way will the Commission stimulate local authorities to make better use of structural funding opportunities to promote Roma inclusion? Since it explicitly recognises the importance of its active participation in policy design, how will the Commission ensure that the current review of the Financial Regulation will positively impact on the capacity of Roma civil society to self-organise?

How does the Commission evaluate the activities of the European Roma Platform? In what ways has the Commission taken on board the recommendations, experience and expertise of Roma NGOs? Has the Commission, in the framework of the EU Roma Platform, taken action to present a strategic timeline towards a coherent European framework for Roma inclusion, as requested by the European Parliament?

What actions has the Commission taken, as requested by Parliament on several occasions, to ensure that the internal organisation of its services reflects the considerable coordination and expertise challenges of addressing Roma inclusion?

Roma face both explicit and implicit discrimination, including alarming forms of racist violence, hate speech, living and educational segregation and forced evictions, but also less visible discrimination via unequal access to public services and social provisions. What measures does the Commission propose to tackle both visible and invisible forms of discrimination against Roma?

Source: European Parliament

Full article at EP link

(1) Social Affairs and Employment Council Conclusions, 9 June 2009.