EURoma Network has published its contribution to the European Commission’s call for evidence and public consultation on the forthcoming European Anti-Poverty Strategy. The document seeks to ensure that the future Strategy explicitly recognises and effectively addresses the widespread poverty and social exclusion affecting many of the estimated 12 million Roma living in the European Union.
EURoma Network welcomes the European Commission’s commitment to release the first-ever European Anti-Poverty Strategy. This initiative represents a major step towards the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights and the achievement of the EU 2030 poverty reduction target. At the same time, EURoma underlines the need for the Strategy to translate its multidimensional approach into concrete, coordinated, and measurable actions that reach those most affected by poverty, including Roma.
In this context, EURoma Network submits a series of proposals on key elements to be considered in the forthcoming EU Anti-Poverty Strategy with the aim of ensuring that it effectively responds to the specific situation of poverty and deprivation disproportionately affecting Roma.
Why a new EU Anti-Poverty Strategy should take fully into account the specific situation of Roma?
Despite existing policy, legal and financial frameworks, progress towards reducing poverty in the EU has been limited. The latest data from the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) reveal persistently high levels of poverty and deprivation among Roma: 70% remain at risk of poverty, and 77% of Roma children live in households at risk of poverty. These figures, together with the EU Roma Strategy’s still distant targets on poverty reduction, point to the urgent need to intensify efforts and to ensure that the future Strategy builds on and reinforces existing EU frameworks—such as the EU Roma Strategic Framework, the European Child Guarantee, and the European Pillar of Social Rights—to deliver tangible results.
The forthcoming Strategy has the potential to become a turning point in tackling poverty in Europe, provided that it explicitly recognises groups disproportionately affected, such as Roma, and that it strengthens the role of EU Funds—particularly the ESF+ and ERDF—in supporting targeted and effective measures.
EURoma Network’s proposals
Building on the practical experience of its partners and discussions within the Network, EURoma puts forward a series of proposals to ensure that the future European Anti-Poverty Strategy effectively contributes to reducing poverty and social exclusion among Roma. These include:
1. Explicit acknowledgment of the situation of poverty and deprivation faced by Roma as a prerequisite for focused and effective action.
The Strategy must explicitly incorporate the Roma population across all its dimensions, ensuring targeted (but not exclusive) measures, inclusive actions, and effective monitoring mechanisms. Special attention should be given to vulnerable subgroups, such as children, youth and women, and implementation should extend to national, regional, and local levels.
2. Combining robust social protection schemes, such as minimum income and child support benefits, with employment, education and activation measures, to address both immediate needs and structural causes of poverty.
For the minimum income schemes, which vary greatly among Member States, to be a truly effective and efficient instrument to combat poverty, they must enhance coverage rates and reduce non-take-up and increase the impact of the minimum income schemes in the reduction of poverty.
Social protection schemes should be combined with activation measures. Education and targeted employment measures are key to breaking the cycle of poverty and exclusion affecting the Roma population. Other elements to be considered are the close link between extreme vulnerability and housing exclusion of Roma and poverty; the discrimination based on race or ethnicity as a cross-cutting challenge; and the specific needs of groups at higher risk of poverty and vulnerability, such as the Roma population, must be recognised and considered in the policies in all areas, including the green and digital transition.
3. Boosting the use of EU Funds, in particular ESF+ and ERDF, to their full potential in supporting comprehensive and long-term interventions that address poverty, including child poverty, housing exclusion and discrimination.
Efforts should be done to take full advantage of the potential of ESF+ and ERDF, both in the 2021-2027 and the 2028-2034 programming periods by ensuring the effective and efficient implementation of the measures planned for the 2021-2027 programming period; guaranteeing the alignment between the type of measures and the elements considered key in the fight against poverty and the actions eligible for funding within ESF+ and ERDF; increasing the full potential of existing instruments, such as the Child Guarantee to tackle Roma children poverty; taking full advantage of the possibilities offered by the ESF+ and ERDF to address the most severe situations of housing vulnerability and exclusion, including substandard and segregated housing, such as settlements; taking fully into account the elements that are considered relevant when considering the use of the EU Funds; and the use of approaches that have proved relevant in interventions related to groups in situations of vulnerability and poverty in general.
4. Establishing an effective monitoring system with clear indicators and mechanisms to assess progress and ensure that interventions reach Roma and other vulnerable groups.
Elements that could contribute to an effective monitoring system include ad hoc, rigorous studies targeting groups that are particularly affected by poverty and are not included in official statistics; review and incorporate indicators aimed at groups that are particularly vulnerable to poverty, such as Roma, linked to education and childhood and relating to people living in substandard housing, including slums and settlements. As regards the collection of data on ethnic origin, it is worth reminding that it is possible if the necessary safeguards are respected.
5. Strengthening governance mechanisms to promote coordination and cooperation among EU institutions, Member States, National Roma Contact Points, Managing Authorities of EU Funds, and civil society organisations.
The synergy of the future European Anti-Poverty Strategy with the objectives and targets of existing EU policy instruments and initiatives and with future strategies and plans is essential to ensure complementarity and reinforcement of these instruments. The same applies to the alignment with the upcoming Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) to ensure the alignment between the policy measures and the financial resources.
6. Promoting mutual learning and exchange among Member States to identify and replicate successful approaches.
EURoma reaffirms its commitment to supporting EU and national authorities in translating the Strategy’s ambitions into tangible improvements in the living conditions and equal opportunities of Roma. Through its ongoing work on mutual learning, knowledge generation, and policy dialogue, the Network will continue contributing to a more social and inclusive Europe, in line with the principles of the European Pillar of Social Rights.
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