Publications – ERGO Network

One in four children in the EU is at risk of poverty or social exclusion.

One in four children in the EU is at risk of poverty or social exclusion.

This reality affects over 20 million children across Europe and represents a serious social emergency and a threat to the EU’s long-term cohesion, prosperity, and democracy.

As the European Union enters a new political cycle and prepares the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), civil society urges leaders to take necessary actions. Children must be placed at the core of Europe’s future agenda.

Together with leading child rights and social justice organisations, we have issued a joint letter to EU leaders, calling on them to:

Reinforce the European Child Guarantee
Integrate child poverty into a stronger EU Social Agenda
Secure robust, long-term investment in the next MFF

Child poverty is widespread and systematic failure, affecting children in every EU Member State. While the context may differ across countries, the outcome is universally unjust. Their rights are not being fully respected, protected, and fulfilled.

As highlighted in the Draghi Report on EU competitiveness, Europe’s ability to compete globally must go hand in hand with equity and inclusion. A resilient and competitive Europe protects and empowers its children.

Investing in children is not just a moral responsibility. It is a strategic necessity. If the EU fails to act now, the costs—social, economic, and political — will be immeasurable and irreversible.

What does it say about the European Union when one of the most developed regions in the world cannot guarantee a life of dignity and opportunity to all its children? What future are we shaping if entire generations are left behind?

Childhood poverty violates rights. It restricts potential. It weakens democracy. Therefore, we need to protect children and invest in their futures.

A Europe that protects every child:
Aligning EU’s policies and budget to eradicate child poverty

ERGO Network opinion on Multiannual Financial Framework for Roma

Significant shifts are underway as the EU prepares its next long-term budget (2028–2034). Global crises, digital change, and new leadership are shaping priorities, and the European Commission’s recently published Roadmap focuses heavily on competitiveness and efficiency.

However, one crucial issue is missing: Roma inclusion.

Over 6 million Roma live in the EU—80% at risk of poverty, fewer than half in paid work, and 1 in 4 facing daily discrimination. The proposed budget risks cutting or merging key social programs, threatening the fragile progress made so far.

Roma inclusion must be built into the next multiannual financial framework (MFF) from the start to meet the EU’s 2030 goals and uphold the European Pillar of Social Rights.

ERGO Network has outlined clear recommendations to ensure this happens:

Keep rights-based rules: Tie EU funds to real action, including national Roma inclusion strategies.
Protect social funding: Maintain the EU’s Cohesion Policy, which supports education, housing, and health for vulnerable groups.
Keep ESF+ independent: The European Social Fund+ must remain a dedicated tool for fighting poverty and inequality.
Enforce EU values: Countries should not violate basic rights – through racism, discrimination, or abuse.
Support civil society: Roma-led organisations need resources to advocate and build inclusion from the ground up.

read our full recommendation

The next EU budget is a test of values. A competitive Europe must also be a fair one, and the MFF must deliver on both.

Response to the Competitiveness Compass and the Autumn Package 2025

The Competitiveness Compass and the draft Joint Employment Report 2025 – What’s in it for Europe’s Roma?

The Autumn Package kick-starting the European Semester 2025 was released by the European Commission in two batches, on 24 November and on 18 December 2024. While the latter batch included the usual draft Joint Employment Report, none contained the Annual Sustainable Growth Survey. This is the first ever since the establishment of the European Semester in 2011. There was only a brief accompanying communication of two and a half pages. Instead, the European Commission put forward a new document, entitled the Competitiveness Compass, on 29 January 2025.

Read our full response to the Competitiveness Compass and draft Joint Employment Report here!

The Competitiveness Compass is a programmatic framing document aimed to “guide the work in the coming five years” and listing “priority actions to reignite economic dynamism in Europe.” This approach means that most – if not all – other policy areas, including social and environmental policies, are subsumed to competitiveness goals. The vision seems to seek competitiveness at any price since it outlines no red lines or areas to be spared in this quest. The lack of attention to social issues is a significant step back even from the previous Annual Sustainable and Growth Surveys (itself primarily an economic document), and the narrative of the Competitiveness Compass leaves little doubt as to the low priority assigned by this Commission to equality and inclusion.

There was also no place for Roma, ethnic minorities, racism, or discrimination anywhere in the Competitiveness Compass. This is another missed opportunity compared to the Annual Sustainable Growth Survey where, more often than not, the Roma were mentioned, or at the very least there was a commitment to the Union of Equality – also absent from the current document. The Compass includes one sentence about taking pride in Europe’s anti-discrimination laws, a sentiment that many human rights organisations would like to question. Vulnerable groups are only mentioned once in the entire text.

The document features a small section on social fairness, which prioritises skills and jobs. Moreover, social aspects are viewed exclusively as an enabler of competitiveness rather than a goal in themselves. The European Pillar of Social Rights (Social Pillar) is mentioned once from the perspective of its role in shaping a competitive Europe. There is some positive language on quality jobs, adequate wages, inclusive labour markets and the welfare state, as well as references to welcome initiatives like the EU Job Quality Roadmap, the Affordable Housing Plan, and the EU Affordable Energy Action Plan – but no wording on the EU’s upcoming first Anti-Poverty Strategy. However, the overall approach is one of instrumentalising social policies for economic gains, where people are seen as bargaining chips in a race of global business interests.

The Competitiveness Compass also announces some very worrisome structural changes to EU processes and funds, such as aligning the new MFF with competitiveness objectives, raising great concerns that vital social funding will be cut or redirected. A new and streamlined European Semester is meant to focus on reforms and investments for competitiveness, but once again the worry is that social monitoring through the Semester might disappear or at least be significantly downsized.

We are 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 (including that of children), early school leaving, and difficult access to services and the labour market. Additionally, strong links are made to the EU Strategic Framework on Roma Equality, Inclusion, and Participation as part of the Union of Equality. Very disappointingly, though, there is no mention of antigypsyism or racism and only four references to discrimination.

The references to civil dialogue are rather poor, as the Competitiveness Compass does not mention civil society, while social partners are mentioned three times. The accompanying communication of the second batch of documents of the Autumn Package includes one explicit reference to civil society about increasing ownership of the Country Reports. Finally, the Joint Employment Report fares much better, with multiple references to the role of civil society organisations in delivering impactful and inclusive policies.

ERGO Network will continue to advocate for a stronger focus on Roma rights and inclusion in the framework for these processes and for better synergies between the European Semester and the EU Roma Strategic Framework for Equality, Inclusion, and Participation, the EU Anti-Racism Action Plan, and the Union of Equality.

For more information on ERGO Network’s work on the European Semester, please contact Senior Policy Adviser Amana Ferro – a.ferro@ergonetwork.org

Roma access to quality, affordable, and inclusive essential and social services

Roma access to quality, affordable, and inclusive essential and social services

Access to essential and social services is a fundamental component and pre-requisite for lifting people out of poverty, combatting material deprivation, and raising work intensity. Europe’s Roma face multiple obstacles in benefitting from good quality, affordable essential and social services despite being among the key groups most needing this support to unlock equal opportunities for themselves and their families.

There are some key opportunities to capitalise on this subject in the next mandate of the European Commission, chiefly the new Action Plan of the European Pillar of Social Rights and associated initiatives. Revising the Multi-Annual Financial Framework is another opportunity to review support for quality, affordable, accessible, and inclusive service provision. The Mission Letter to Executive Vice-President Roxana Mînzatu lists a call for her to “lead the work on the first-ever EU Anti-Poverty Strategy, aimed at helping people to access the essential protections and services they need and addressing the root causes of poverty.” (our underlining).

The work has already begun, with the European Commission releasing a comprehensive and long-awaited report on access to services on 18 June 2023. The report aims to support the delivery of Principle 20 of the European Pillar of Social Rights, which refers to access to essential services such as water, sanitation, energy, banking services, and digital communications. Consultations with civil society are also taking place, and oral and written feedback is being submitted.

This policy paper aims to review the aforementioned European Commission report from a Roma inclusion perspective, as well as to formulate policy recommendations that concern access to both essential and social services for one of Europe’s most vulnerable communities. It is also part of ERGO Network’s advocacy in the framework of our efforts to ensure that the upcoming EU Anti-Poverty Strategy does not leave the Roma behind. We have consistently advocated for more and better access to services, including digital services, for the Roma as a fundamental pre-requisite to thrive, achieve equality, and participate in society and the labour market.

Last but not least, we hope to see full synergies between the Union of Equality and its composing strategies, including the EU Strategic Framework for Roma Equality, Inclusion, and Participation, and key mainstream processes such as the European Semester and the initiatives it monitors.

=> Read the policy paper here!

For ERGO Network’s engagement with access to social and essential services, please contact Senior Policy Adviser Amana Ferro: a.ferro@ergonetwork.org

Research report on Roma access to decent and sustainable employment

ERGO Network launches its research report on Roma access to decent and sustainable employment

The European Roma Grassroots Organisations (ERGO) Network held its annual Policy Conference on 25 November, entitled “Implementing the EU Roma Strategic Framework. Roma access to decent and sustainable employment.”

The Roma are more likely to experience discrimination in recruitment and in the workplace, to be paid less, to be offered precarious contracts, to be overlooked for promotions or learning opportunities, or to be given dangerous or unsuitable tasks. While overrepresented in unsustainable and exploitative forms of employment, the Roma are also underrepresented in trade union structures. Additionally, many Roma earn their livelihood from atypical or seasonal forms of work, which are not covered by adequate labour protection legislation and do not provide for employment rights and social security. Job creation efforts are not enough to provide the Roma with quality and secure jobs, and the great potential of social entrepreneurship is insufficiently supported.

The EU Roma Strategic Framework for Equality, Inclusion, and Participation 2020 – 2030 includes, as one of its four sectoral objectives, “Increase effective equal access to quality and sustainable employment” by 2030, while the Council Recommendation on Roma Equality, Inclusion and Participation features a comprehensive section calling on Member States to “promote effective equal access for Roma, in particular young Roma, to quality and sustainable employment”. Access to quality and sustainable employment is extensively covered by the European Pillar of Social Rights (Social Pillar), chiefly in its Principles 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 13, while decent work is Goal 8 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

During 2024, ERGO Network conducted in-depth national case studies in six countries (Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, and Spain), looking at the realities of Roma employment and access to the labour market and the key barriers the Roma face when trying to access quality and sustainable jobs in these countries. Our members in Ireland provided additional benchmarking evidence. The main findings and recommendations were brought together in an EU synthesis report launched in the framework of the above-mentioned event.

Key messages of the synthesis report:

A majority of Roma are not in paid work, at least not in the formal economy, nor are they adequately supported to enter the labour market. Urgent and significant investment is needed into integrated, personalised Active Inclusion approaches, combining income support with enabling services and Public Employment Services to have the necessary resources, staff, and training.
The Roma who work are in poor-quality jobs with low pay, insecure contracts, unsafe working conditions, no access to training, and almost no trade union coverage. Countries need to develop and implement a comprehensive definition of job quality, covering all the aspects mentioned above, and ensure that it applies to all jobs, all sectors, and all workers. They also need to support and strengthen trade unions and collective bargaining.
Antigypsyism is pervasive in recruitment as well as in the workplace. Much stronger anti-discrimination legislation is needed, coupled with effective implementation mechanisms and monitoring, anti-bias training for employers and recruiters, and broad campaigns to combat antigypsyism in society at large.
Pushed to the margins of the labour market, the Roma make ends meet through the informal economy, pursuing traditional crafts, or seeking work abroad.Combating undeclared work needs to be done by regularising sectors and penalising rogue employers instead of poor workers; broader support schemes for self-employment and more protection for mobile workers are needed to prevent exploitation.
Job creation efforts that would benefit the Roma are scarce – and while the social economy holds great potential for Roma employment, it is currently underutilised. More public investment is needed in locally accessible, community-rooted quality jobs, as well as supportive legislation and improved access to funding for social enterprises as a key tool for Roma employment, including the promotion of Roma social entrepreneurship.
Participation of Roma communities and their civil society organisations is paramount in co-creating sustainable ways forward. Policymakers and labour market actors must cooperate closely with Roma stakeholders and their civil society representatives to ensure evidence-based solutions, support disaggregated data collection, foster common understanding, and bridge cultural gaps.

With this research, we aim to kick-start a debate with policy makers on improving the availability, accessibility, quality, sustainability, and inclusiveness of employment for Europe’s Roma.

Read the EU synthesis report here!
Read the national case studies: Bulgaria – Czech Republic – Hungary – Romania – Slovakia – Spain.
Read the additional benchmarking evidence: Ireland

For more information about ERGO Network’s work on Roma access to decent and sustainable employment, please contact Senior Policy Adviser Amana Ferro.