Category: EU Roma Strategic Framework

Post-2020 European Roma Coalition

Post-2020 European Roma Coalition

In order to ensure a strong commitment and tangible results by European institutions to the post-2020 EU policy on Roma, a number of Roma and pro-Roma civil society organisations have come together and established a Post-2020 European Roma Coalition (working title). The aim of the Coalition is to achieve substantive equality, participation and social justice of Roma in all spheres of life by combating antigypsyism,  strengthening Roma and pro-Roma civil society and by fostering principles of good governance into the Roma policies at the EU and national levels, political will and institutional accountability.

The Coalition started being operational on 17 February 2020, on the occasion of the European Commission`s publication of the Roadmap-setting out the EU post 2020 Roma equality and inclusion policy.

The Post-2020 European Roma Coalition welcomes the commitment of the European Commission to develop a reinforced post-2020 European Strategic Framework and calls for an ambitious and binding “Post-2020 European Strategic Framework for Roma equality, social and economic justice, and  combating antigypsyism” aiming at achieving substantive equality and full participation of Roma as equal citizens across Europe to be created.

In addition, the joint statement addresses several aspects of the Roadmap that should be fully considered when designing the future EU Strategic Framework, such as:

  • Ensuring the fundamental-rights, anti-racism, and empowerment approach;
  • Improving governance, policy mainstreaming, and effective implementation;
  • Increasing investment of the EU and Member states to Roma communities.

The Coalition is also calling for seven main priority areas to be established under the EU Framework, including: (a) fighting antigypsyism and discrimination; (b) effective empowerment and participation in art, history and media; (c) quality and inclusive education; (d) quality and sustainable employment; (e) quality healthcare and universal health insurance; (f) adequate and desegregated housing and (g) eradicating poverty and social exclusion.

Furthermore, the Coalition asked the European Commission to expand the list of cross-cutting priorities within the EU Framework, including, but are not limited to: Environmental injustice/racism; Gender mainstreaming and intersectional and multiple discrimination with a focus on key priority groups: children, young people, women, LGBTQI+ persons, persons with disabilities, and elderly people; Intra-EU mobility and migration; and Diversity of Roma (Sinti, Travellers, Manush, Kale, and other related groups).

All signatory organisations underlined that Roma and civil society organisations should be an integral part in the design, implementation, and monitoring of the Framework. In addition, the Roadmap should transform Roma participation into a binding common quality standard for the future European Strategic Framework and National Strategies.

The full text of the statement is available here.

The Coalition members which have contributed to the letter include: Alliance against Antigypsyism, Central Council of German Sinti and Roma, Center for Policy Studies of the Central European University, European Network Against Racism (ENAR), European Roma Grassroots Organisations (ERGO) Network, European Roma and Travellers Forum (ERTF), European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture (ERIAC), European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC), Fundación Secretariado Gitano (FSG), Open Society European Policy Institute (OSEPI), Phiren Amenca International Network, Roma Active Albania (RAA), Roma Education Fund (REF), Roma Entrepreneurship Development Initiative (REDI), and ternYpe International Roma Youth Network.

ERGO Network feedback on Commission Roadmap

ERGO Network written feedback on the Roadmap published by DG Justice on 17 Feb 2020. An initiative setting out the EU post-2020 Roma equality and inclusion policy

ERGO strongly welcomes the Roadmap by the European Commission setting out the post-2020 EU Roma equality and inclusion policy, which builds on the previous EU Roma Framework for National Roma Integration Strategies (NRIS).

The major challenge of the previous EU Framework was its non-binding character, which gave the liberty to Member States to decide whether and how to design their NRIS. Therefore, in its written feedback, ERGO Network called for a comprehensive and binding EU Strategy for Roma inclusion and antigypsyism, which has concrete minimum standards and ambitious targets, including overall common indicators and measuring impact, as well as a joint monitoring process between Member States and the European Commission. The new Strategy should be fully integrated in the European Semester, and work in synergy with the successor of Europe 2020, the European Pillar of Social Rights, and the Sustainable Development Goals.

ERGO demanded for a post-2020 EU Roma Strategy and NRIS that put combating antigypsyism at their centre and ensure cross-cutting priorities within, such as antigypsyism, intersectional discrimination, poverty, material deprivation, housing evictions, discrimination, child protection, gender mainstreaming, LGBTQI+, environmental racism, diversity within Roma groups, Roma participation, Roma identity and cultural heritage.

Combating antigypsyism through the existing anti-discrimination legislation is not enough. The four key areas of NRIS should end any form of structural antigypsyism, including all forms of segregation, forced evictions, environmental injustice and other manifestations of prejudice, including in education, employment, health and housing and other relevant areas mentioned above. The next EU Roma Strategy must demand all Member States to formally recognise antigypsyism as a specific form of racism against Roma beyond the general ground already embedded in the EU and national legislation related to “race or ethnicity”.

ERGO Network calls for introducing EU and national measurable anti-discrimination indicators in the key areas of education, employment, housing and health, in addition to social inclusion programmes, including ambitious targets and concrete objectives, that must be monitored on an annual basis. Indicators should also be structural, showing legislative, policy and practical changes and their impact on institutions as a way to address structural and institutional racism and discrimination. In addition, indicators should meet the Sustainable Development Goals 2030, Social Pillar etc. The Strategy should also contain a clear methodology on how Member States can collect ethnic data on Roma, in line with Race Equality Directive and GDPR.

Finally, ERGO demanded that the Roadmap ensures Roma participation at all levels throughout the entire process, in line with Art 11 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU).

For more information, please contact Jamen Gabriela Hrabaňová, ERGO Network Director, at g.hrabanova@ergonetwork.org.

European Semester – ERGO response to the country reports

European Semester: European Commission releases Winter Package
What’s in it for Europe’s Roma?

On 26 February 2020, the European Commission published the so-called Winter Package, comprising the 28 Country Reports 2020 (including the United Kingdom), and the usual Communication on Country Reports, in the framework of the 2020 European Semester.

The European Roma Grassroots Organisations (ERGO) Network warmly welcomes the explicit mention of the European Roma in the Communication on the Country Reports, which states “Equal access to high-quality education and training from an early age is also essential to promote equality of opportunities and to foster inclusion, including of underrepresented groups such as Roma…”. However, we are disappointed that the Roma are mentioned exclusively under education and training. There are no references to the fact that Roma people in Europe face poverty and social exclusion at rates of over 80% in most Member States, that their employment, health, housing and other indicators are extremely low compared to the majority of the population, and that antigypsyism and discrimination continue to be rampant.

This approach is mirrored by the very vast majority of the individual Country Reports included in the Package, according to the review performed by the ERGO Network and its national members. Read below the Key Messages derived from this analysis and access the full report here:

  1. Only 6 Country Reports explicitly refer to the Roma, despite most of them across Europe experiencing severe discrimination, marginalisation and segregation, poverty, poor living conditions, and very low employment, education, and health outcomes.
  1. The National Roma Integration Strategies are not given enough prominence and support in the vast majority of Country Reports, evidencing a lack of effective integration of the EU Roma Framework in the European Semester and its processes.
  1. The national approach to Roma rights and inclusion continues to be piecemeal in most countries, while a comprehensive, integrated policy response, rooted in realities across all social areas and equally tackling antigypsyism, is lacking.
  1. The approach to Roma communities is consistent with an unfortunate lack of prioritizing of issues related to ethnic minorities and discrimination throughout the Country Reports.
  1. Civil society organisations are only rarely mentioned as key partners in the design, implementation, and monitoring of public policies, thus weakening the effectiveness of interventions, as well as undermining ownership and democratic decision-making processes.

For more information about ERGO Network’s work on EU social inclusion and employment policy (European Semester, Europe 2020, European Pillar of Social Rights, Sustainable Development Goals etc), please contact Senior Policy Adviser Amana Ferro.

 

Civil society united in their demands for the post 2020 EU Roma Strategic Framework

Civil society united in their demands for the post 2020 EU Roma Strategic Framework

Around 40 members of the civil society and other close partners worked hard in September to coordinate and prepare civil society’s input into the ‘Workshop on future policies for Roma’ organised by the European Commission’s DG Justice on 1 October 2019.

We organised two preparation meetings in ERGO Network: one on 16 September, ahead of a DG Justice consultation meeting, and another one on 30 September, ahead of the mentioned 1 October workshop.  We also organised an online meeting and had intensive communication over emails to be well prepared and give our best to put together our priorities in terms of concrete demands for the future EU policies for Roma.

Before the 1 October workshop, the European Commission published three short background papers to provide a basis for discussion. The background papers proposed six different policy options for a future EU Roma Framework:

  • Option 1: “Do less” – no new framework
  • Option 2: “Do the same” – carrying forward the current framework
  • Option 3: “Do differently (1)” – fighting antigypsyism approach
  • Option 4: “Do differently (2)” – Social inclusion approach
  • Option 5: “Do better” – a revised EU Roma Framework
  • Option 6: “Do more” – broadened approach to equality and inclusion

During the meeting on 16 September, we created four working groups, based on topics of the published background papers, expertise and interest of civil society actors and we split the responsibilities to analyse the papers. We were soon ready to present our analysis to other civil society partners during the next civil society meeting in ERGO Network on 30 September.

Our position: Option 7

During the 30 September meeting, after very intense and fruitful discussions, the civil society partners agreed to present an “Option 7” at the European Commission workshop the following day. Option 7 can be seen as a combination of options 3,4 and 6, as it takes a double approach of focusing on social inclusion and combating antigypsyism. It combines mainstreaming of Roma inclusion across policy areas with a stronger monitoring component, asks for ensuring funding and puts emphasis on the importance of Roma participation.

At the 1 October workshop, ERGO Network Director Gabriela Hrabanova opened the civil society statements by presenting our option, and Roma civil society as a whole convinced with taking a very strong and united position, asking for a new Council Recommendation on Roma inclusion and combating antigypsyism. The activists furthermore also advocated for a new focus on so far unaddressed forms of antigypsyism such as environmental injustice.

As a follow-up to the workshop, we are asking for Option 7 to be further developed by the European Commission’s experts. Together with our partners we also continue to pursue other advocacy goals, such as asking the Fundamental Rights Agency to develop indicators to measure Member States’ answers to antigypsyism.

We now need everyone on board to continue lobbying for our demands also within the Member States and aim to create a strong and wide civil society support for an effective Post 2020 Framework both in the EU and in neighbouring countries.

If you would like to discuss this further, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with ERGO at g.hrabanova@ergonetwork.org.

Evaluation of the EU Framework for National Roma Integration Strategies up to 2020

In 2011 the European Commission adopted an EU Framework for National Roma Integration Strategies focussing on four key areas: education, employment, healthcare and housing. The Framework invited all Member States to present the European Commission with their strategy for Roma inclusion or for specific policy measures for the Roma within their wider social inclusion policies. The main responsibility as well as the competences to improve the situation of all marginalised people, including the Roma, rest with the Member States.

In their midterm review of the EU Framework published in September 2017, the European Commission asks particularly for improvements in the transition from education to employment and confirms ERGO Network’s assessment that in order to achieve more social inclusion, discrimination has to be better tackled: “The growing proportion of young Roma who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) is an alarming signal that translating results in education into employment and other areas requires a more effective fight against discrimination (p.2)”.

Public consultation

At the same time, the European Commission collects stakeholders’ views on the achievements and challenges faced during the years of implementation of the EU Framework for National Roma Integration Strategies up to 2020. A public consultation aims to gather views on European and national policy, legal and funding instruments that have been mobilised to fight discrimination and to promote the inclusion of Roma.

We urge all our members and partners to take part in this consultation, which is still open until 25 October 2017. You can find the link here:

https://ec.europa.eu/info/consultations/public-consultation-evaluation-eu-framework-national-roma-integration-strategies-2020_en

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EU Roma Strategic Framework – Page 5 – ERGO Network

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