Author: Ana Rozanova

ERGO Network Annual Policy Conference:
Implementing the EU Roma Strategic Framework
Roma access to quality and inclusive education

20 November, 10h – 16h30, NH Carrefour de l’Europe, Brussels 

Join us for our Annual Policy Conference 2025!  

At a time when Europe is confronted by war at its borders, the ongoing cost of living crisis, and political instability, its Roma find themselves facing worsening poverty and exclusion, dire living conditions, and widespread antigypsyism every day.

The Policy Conference will serve to launch ERGO Network’s research report on “Roma access to quality and inclusive education”, based on six national case studies carried out in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, and Spain, with additional benchmarking evidence from Ireland and Sweden.

The event will also provide insights into the implementation of the National Roma Frameworks in the EU and enlargement countries, ahead of the European Commission’s 2026 progress report. It will, furthermore, reflect on complementarities with Council of Europe standards, drawing on findings from ERGO Network’s 2025 data collection exercise.

The conference will bring together ERGO Network members from the grassroots level, EU policy-makers from across the institutional spectrum, as well as other relevant European and national stakeholders.

Please save this date in your calendars! The agenda and registration link will follow soon! 

We’re looking forward to counting you among the participants, so that together we can build positive, sustainable, evidence-based policy solutions that work.

#ERGOConference2025

Roma Platform 2025: Europe still talks recognition, but we demand Resources

At the 18th European Platform for Roma Inclusion in Brussels, our message from ERGO Network and the Roma civil society was clear: Recognition of antigypsyism is a progress, but it will mean little without resources, accountability and real political participation.

Rights, not charity

Speaking on the high-level panel, former MEP and current ERGO Network Chair Soraya Post welcomed how far Europe has come. For decades, Roma issues were framed as welfare or charity; today, at least on paper, they are recognised as fundamental rights.

“Roma inclusion is no longer treated as an act of charity — it is recognised as a matter of fundamental rights and political responsibility,” she told the audience. But she warned that “recognition without resources will not change people’s daily lives. The rights we have recognised must now be delivered — in schools, in health care, in jobs, and in every part of everyday life.”

Her call was clear: Roma participation in decision-making must become genuine, antigypsyism must be confronted and enforced against, and the next EU budget must include binding resources for Roma equality.

Invited to the end of dinner

Others echoed the frustration. Petre Florin Manole, Minister of Family, Youth and Equal Opportunities of Romania, insisted that cohesion funds must be protected, otherwise “Roma are invited to the end of the dinner, not to eat, but to clean up the mess.

Meanwhile, the EU Fundamental Rights Agency presented its most comprehensive survey yet: more than 10,000 Roma respondents across 1,000 locations, laying bare ongoing discrimination, poverty and exclusion. And Hristo Petrov, MEP, offered a challenge of his own: “True equality is when Roma are not confined only to Roma inclusion issues, but can be present in any other field, so we have the Roma perspective on them.”

Participation as democracy’s test

ERGO Network co-facilitated a workshop on participation, moderated by our Director Gabriela Hrabaňová. The discussion underscored a growing sense that consultation alone is not enough. Advisory bodies without power, under-representation of Roma women and youth, and a lack of trust between institutions and communities keep participation symbolic rather than real.

Yet there were bright spots we have to build on for them to actually make a difference: Roma Political Schools and youth mentoring schemes, minority councils with decision-making power, and alliances with non-Roma organisations that lend weight and credibility.

The workshop set out four urgent priorities: to institutionalise Roma participation in real seats of power; to invest in leadership and trust-building; to bridge international commitments with local realities; and to make participation safe, inclusive and accountable.

For all the speeches and strategies, we left the Platform with a familiar feeling: National governments and EU institutions know the right words, but action lags behind. Recognition of antigypsyism is a milestone, but milestones alone do not change lives.

As Soraya Post concluded, the test is simple: “Roma communities have heard promises for generations. Now is the moment to prove that equality is not only written in EU and national documents — it is lived in everyday life.”

New funding for Roma Civil Society in the EU

Are you a Roma or pro-Roma organisation in an EU Member State working to fight antigypsyism, promote equality, and uphold EU values? The ROVA project is here to support your mission.

ROVA – Roma Civil Society Organisations Promoting EU Values – is a new initiative led by ERGO Network and partners to empower grassroots Roma civil society across the European Union.

Mission of ROVA

We aim to empower Roma-led and pro-Roma CSOs to drive positive change, safeguard fundamental rights, promote equality, and strengthen civic participation across the EU.

What we do

ROVA will support:

• 120 local Roma and pro-Roma civil society organisations
• 15 national Roma coalitions

…in Spain, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Czechia, Slovakia, and other EU Member States.

Organisations will receive both financial support and a tailored capacity-building programme to help them:

1. Advance access to fundamental rights
2. Promote equality and anti-discrimination
3. Encourage civic engagement and democratic participation
4. Raise awareness of the human rights situation of Roma
5. Improve monitoring of national Roma strategies
6. Foster dialogue between Roma communities and authorities

Why this matters

The ROVA project is grounded in the core values of the European Union, as enshrined in Article 2 of the Lisbon Treaty and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights:

Human dignity – inviolable and must be respected and protected
Democracy – based on political rights and representation for all
Freedom – of thought, movement, expression, religion and assembly
Equality – equal rights before the law
Human rights – including the right to privacy and freedom from discrimination

By supporting grassroots efforts rooted in these principles, ROVA strengthens Roma civil society as a pillar of European democracy.

Available funding

Three types of project grants are now open:

1. Up to €30,000 for Roma/pro-Roma NGOs in Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Spain, Czechia, or Slovakia (2nd round: €25,000)
2. Up to €20,000 for Roma/pro-Roma NGOs in other EU Member States
3. Up to €15,000 for national Roma coalitions (one round only)
   

Deadline: 5 August 2025

📝 NGOs: submit a concept note
📜 Coalitions: submit a full proposal
📬 Applications must be submitted online – email submissions will not be accepted

👉All materials for the application are available on www.rovaproject.org
📩 Need support? Contact: rova_ergo@ergonetwork.org

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Funded by the European Union, with co-funding provided by the EVZ Foundation. Views and opinions expressed are, however, those of the authors only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union, the European Commission, or the EVZ Foundation. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority nor the EVZ Foundation can be held responsible for them. 

This call for applications is published within the framework of the ROVA project. The ROVA project is implemented by ERGO Network and five of its member organisations (Autonomia Foundation – Hungary, FAGIC – Spain, Integro Association – Bulgaria, Nevo Parudimos – Romania, Romanonet – Czechia) between January 2025 and December 2027.