The European Semester Autumn Package 2026 is out!
What’s in it for Europe’s Roma?
The Autumn Package kick-starting the European Semester 2026 was published by the European Commission on 25 November 2025. It includes, among others, an accompanying Communication setting out the Commission’s assessment of economic and social developments across the EU, the draft Joint Employment Report (JER), and a new Communication on Human Capital.
=> Read our full response to the Autumn Package 2026 here!
Overall, the Autumn Package confirms the Commission’s continued emphasis on competitiveness, productivity, and fiscal sustainability. Social rights remain largely framed as instruments to support economic performance, rather than standalone objectives rooted in EU values and fundamental rights. The analysis relies on GDP growth and employment rates as key indicators of success, which fail to capture lived realities such as in-work poverty, widening inequalities, and persistent deprivation. Without complementary indicators on redistribution and inequality, economic growth risks remaining disconnected from improvements in people’s wellbeing, particularly for the most disadvantaged groups and racialised communities.
ERGO Network is very pleased to see Europe’s Roma acknowledged multiple times in the Joint Employment Report, concerning issues such as their heightened risk of experiencing poverty and social exclusion and hindered access to education. Additionally, strong links are made to the EU Strategic Framework on Roma Equality, Inclusion, and Participation, as part of the Union of Equality. The two communications only contain one mention each, limited in scope to employment and skills. Disappointingly, there is no explicit discussion of antigypsyism or structural racism as root causes of Roma exclusion, and references to discrimination in general are very limited.
When it comes to the future of social governance, the announced streamlining of the European Semester and the stronger alignment of EU funding with competitiveness objectives raise concerns that social monitoring, poverty reduction, and equality considerations may be further weakened.
The references to civil dialogue are rather poor, as the accompanying communicationof the second batch of documents of the Autumn Package includes one explicit reference to civil society, about increasing ownership and improving stakeholder dialogue, while the Communication on Human Capital does not mention it at all. Finally, the Joint Employment Report fares better, with two strong references to the key role of civil society organisations in producing impactful and inclusive policies – however, these strong references are not mainstreamed in the text.
ERGO Network will continue to advocate for a stronger focus on Roma rights and inclusion within a firmly rights-based European Semester that places social inclusion, equality, and poverty reduction at its core. This includes ensuring meaningful synergies with the Union of Equality, and chiefly the EU Roma Strategic Framework and the new EU Anti-Racism Action Strategy.
For more information on ERGO Network’s work on the European Semester, please contact Senior Policy Adviser Amana Ferro – a.ferro@ergonetwork.org
