EURoma shares proposals for future Anti-Racism Strategy

10 Jul 2025 | Featured news, News, Slider home

EURoma’s proposals aim to contribute to increasing the effectiveness of the new Anti-Racism Strategy (2026-2030) in combatting the discrimination and the antigypsyism experienced by Roma across the EU.

In the context of the process of consultation launched by the European Commission to seek stakeholders’ views on the future Anti-Racism Strategy, EURoma Network shares its proposals for the future EU Anti-Racism Strategy to maintain and reinforce the fight against the racism and discrimination faced by Roma across the European Union (EU). These proposals are based on the discussions within the Network and the experience of partner countries.

EURoma Network welcomes the elaboration of a new EU Anti-Racism Strategy for 2026-2030. This Strategy should be crucial for building a more inclusive and equitable society that upholds the fundamental rights of all individuals, including Roma. Based on the experience of implementing the Anti-Racism Action Plan 2020-2025, it should reinforce the protection of rights holders (in cases of institutional and interpersonal racism) and develop targeted policies and measures to tackle structural racism and discrimination in key sectors such as employment, education and housing.

Why maintaining and strengthening the fight against racism and discrimination faced by Roma in future EU Anti-Racism Strategy?

The introduction of the EU’s first Anti-Racism Action Plan (2020–2025) was an important step forward in putting racial discrimination in the political agenda and specifically acknowledging Roma as one of the groups suffering discrimination, hate speech (including online), hate crime and antigypsyism. However, there is the feeling that the Action Plan has so far delivered limited added value in addressing racism and discrimination against Roma.

Despite some overall progress, Roma still face widespread and persistent racism and discrimination, particularly when it comes to accessing employment, education, healthcare and housing (in some cases, the situation has even worsened). The 2023 Eurobarometer survey on discrimination in the EU shows that Roma people experience the most widespread discrimination of all the groups considered. EU  Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) reports also reveal alarming data on discrimination against the Roma population in all fields, The European Commission’s Report on Implementation of EU Anti-Racism Action Plan 2020-2025 (2024), also offers relevant information on the progress made and well as on the remaining challenges as regards policies, practices and initiatives, including those related to Roma.

Furthermore, there is also also room for improvement as regards the cooperation between the coordinators of the National Anti-Racism Action Plans (NAPARs) and the National Roma Contact Points (NRCPs) as well as the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+)/European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) Managing Authorities. This impacts the alignment between the NAPARs and the National Roma Strategic Frameworks (NRSFs), as well as between the NAPARs and EU funds.

EURoma Network proposals

EURoma puts forward five key proposals to ensure the future Strategy effectively addresses discrimination and antigypsyism faced by Roma:

1.Inclusion of a dedicated chapter on discrimination against Roma and antigypsyism

This dedicated chapter – to be included both in the EU Strategy and in the country’s NAPARs/anti-racism measures- would ensure a more targeted focus and action. The chapter:

  • Should include information and data illustrating the racism and discrimination Roma face in different areas, including discrimination incidents and hate crimes in the different fields (e.g. employment, education, housing, social media, policing….), whether committed by individuals (interpersonal antiypsyism) or at an institutional level (institutional antiypsyism); and the most widespread forms of structural antiypsyism requiring further attention, such as school segregation, segregated settlements and substandard housing. Persistent stereotypes, prejudices and ideologies that negatively portray Roma people in these areas should also be considered.
  • Based on this analysis, set out specific measures to address the situation in the different areas and specifically the challenges identified. These measures should cover policy, legislative and institutional frameworks, as well as contribute to transforming predominant narratives, combatting stereotypes and promoting a realistic, diverse and current image of the Roma population, as well as to encourage mutual understanding and coexistence. These measures should help address incidents of discrimination and hate crimes, as well as forms of structural antigypsyism.
  • The specific situation of Roma women, who suffer intersectional discrimination because of their Roma identity and their gender, should be taken into account. More broadly, it is important to recognise that racial discrimination interacts with discrimination on other grounds, particularly with regard to the sex/gender dimension of racism.

2. Enhancement of governance mechanisms to improve coordination and cooperation

  • The objectives of the future Anti-Racism Strategy must be aligned with existing frameworks (such as the EU Strategic Framework for Roma Equality, Inclusion and Participation and initiatives like the EU Child Guarantee) and future strategies and plans (such as Affordable Housing Initiative and EU Anti-Poverty Strategy). Mainstreaming anti-racism into EU policy frameworks -and ensuring its effective translation into sectoral national policies-is essential for combating the racism (including structural racism, as well as incidents of discrimination and hate crimes) experienced by Roma and other groups.
  • Stronger and more effective governance mechanisms for coordination and cooperation between the bodies coordinating the NAPARs and those in charge of these sectoral policies are essential. The role of equality bodies and other relevant stakeholders in the fight against racism and discrimination against Roma should also be recognised.
  • As regards the EU Strategic Framework for Roma equality, inclusion and participation, the NRCPs and the bodies responsible for implementing the future Anti-Racism Strategy must establish regular, meaningful and formal dialogue and coordination processes for programming, implementing and monitoring actions. Coordination with the ESF+ and ERDF authorities is also important to ensure effective mobilisation and alignment of EU Funds to advance Roma equality and inclusion.

3. Advancement of legislation explicitly addressing antigypsyism

EURoma fully agrees with the Commission’s proposal to prioritise support for the implementation of the EU legal framework combatting discrimination, racism, xenophobia, hate speech and hate crime in the coming years.

Furthermore, anti-racist legislation needs to be developed further to include antigypsyism and introduce the latest human rights standards in the fight against different forms of discrimination, including intersectional discrimination, online hate speech and algorithmic bias. The most recent legislation in this regard is Directive 2000/43, so updating the legislation seems necessary.

4. Strengthening support services for victims

The provision of robust support for victims of discrimination and racism should be given further prominence in future Strategy, inclding through:

  • Robust legal provisions that guarantee sufficient competencies to provide tailored assistance (including an increased capacity for strategic litigation) and adequate funding allocations (combining EU funding with national resources could help to achieve these goals).
  • Explicit recognition of Roma and implementation of targeted programming of specific measures, actions and indicators

This approach aligns with the provisions set out in recent EU Directives aimed at strengthening the role of national equality bodies across all Member States (EU 2024/1499 & EU 2024/1500).

5. Strengthened EU-level support and monitoring to ensure antigypsyism is effectively addressed within NAPARs

The European Commission should increase its support for, and cooperation with, Member States in their efforts to implement future NAPARs .Particular attention should be paid to:

  • Enhancing the capacity and overseeing the incorporation and implementation of Roma-related measures into national strategies, ensuring that antigypsyism and discrimination faced by Roma anare effectively addressed.
  • Moving towards a harmonised approach to equality data collection across the EU. This could be achieved by drafting a recommendation on equality data collection and providing clear guidelines at local, regional and national levels to establish a data collection system with all the necessary safeguards, including disaggregated data. Additionally, it would also be relevant to collect, promote, share and support the analysis of data on the prevalence of different stereotypes among Roma people in the EU.
  • Enhancing the role and powers of the EU Anti-Racism Coordinator in order to fulfil the asigned duty of ensuring the correct implementation of anti-racist policies by both EU institutions and Member States.
  • Facilitating mutual learning and the exchange of practices between Member States in the fight against racism and discrimination. EURoma Network will continue playing its role as platform for engaging partners in mutual learning and the exchange of positive experiences in countering the discrimination of Roma people and antigypsyism, as well as on how the use of EU funds can play a critical role in this endeavour.

Further information

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