EURoma Technical Secretariat participated in the seminar “Inclusion as a partnership-from strategies to actions. Social inclusion of Roma in Slovakia and the Czechia”, organised by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Regional Policy (DG REGIO) in Kosice (Slovakia) on 26 June.
The aim of the seminar was to provide a platform for knowledge exchange between different local, national and international stakeholders with practical experience in the field of Roma inclusion and to share tools and approaches with Slovak and Czech authorities and experts on Roma inclusion and Cohesion Policy implementation in order to make the best use of available EU funds (ERDF, ESF+ and others). The seminar was divided into four sessions covering governance, infrastructure, education and employment.
The EURoma Technical Secretariat provided a general input on the current situation of Roma in the EU, a brief historical overview of how Roma inclusion and equality have been increasingly taken into account by the EU, both in the European Policy Framework for National Roma Inclusion Strategies since 2011 and the EU Funding Regulations since 2007 until now. This was followed by some reflections on key elements to consider when using EU Funds to address Roma inequalities, some recommendations and opportunities, as well as challenges in the current programming period 2021-2027. Finally, the EURoma work plan for the coming years was shared, in particular the thematic strand on investment in desegregated housing, the Child Guarantee and Roma children, the improvement of coordination mechanisms and the future European Cohesion Policy.
