European Commission strengthens the European Child Guarantee. But does it deliver for Roma children?
On 6 May 2026, the European Commission published its communication Breaking the Cycle of Child Poverty. Strengthening the European Child Guarantee, as part of a broader Social Package which also includes the first-ever EU Anti-Poverty Strategy, a proposal for a Council Recommendation on fighting housing exclusion, and a Communication on the rights of persons with disabilities.
The European Child Guarantee has always been particularly relevant for Roma communities, as Roma children are explicitly one of its six target groups of children in need. This remains crucial today, as 77% of Roma children experience poverty in the European Union. ERGO Network reviewed the new Communication in light of its previous analysis of the original 2021 European Child Guarantee and its ongoing work on Roma child poverty, family support, and the prevention of child-family separation.
The forthcoming Guidance must connect the Child Guarantee with the EU Roma Strategic Framework, including the existing targets to cut the poverty gap between Roma children and other children by at least half and to reduce the gap in early childhood education and care participation by 2030. It should also foster stronger cooperation between National Roma Contact Points, Child Guarantee Coordinators, National Equality Bodies, local authorities, Roma civil society, Roma mediators, and communities themselves.
Intersectional discrimination, particularly racism and antigypsyism, has been a blind spot of the European Child Guarantee from the beginning, and the new Communication does not sufficiently correct this weakness. This is a serious gap, because antigypsyism is the main root cause of Roma child poverty and exclusion. The Guidance on Roma children must therefore place the fight against discrimination, racism and antigypsyism at its centre, with concrete measures to prevent and address the stigmatisation of Roma families living in poverty.
The Guidance should also call on Member States to prevent the disproportionate and unjust separation of Roma children from their families, and to prioritise family support, adequate income, decent housing, access to services and community-based prevention over removal from the family environment. Roma mediators should be recognised, supported and properly funded as essential actors for outreach, trust-building and access to services.
While governance appeared strengthened, through renewed cooperation between stakeholders and more policy coherence across initiatives, funding remains one of the weakest parts of the text. ESF+ calls, pilot projects, private actors and philanthropic contributions they cannot replace predictable, ring-fenced, long-term public funding that reaches the children, families and communities most affected, including grassroots Roma organisations.
