Pledge to continue fight against antigypsyism
In the framework of the EU Roma Week 2019, 61 Members of the European Parliament have pledged to continue their fight against antigypsyism and to take it to the next mandate of the Parliament after the elections in May.
We wholeheartedly thank our partners in the European Parliament for their work and fully support the pledge.
We encourage you – our friends in the EU Member States – to support it, too.
How? Ask your candidates for the EP elections to sign the pledge and make their support visible by taking a photo with it. Post the photo on social media under the hashtag #StopAntigypsyism. Don’t forget to tag ERGO Network (twitter: ERGO_Network, fb: @ERGONetwork) so we can collect the signatories.
Download the Pledge.
P L E D G E
We, the undersigned, want to create a European society
in which Roma can access and enjoy their rights set in our Treaties,
in which Roma can fulfil their true potential.
We want a European society, in which dehumanisation of Roma is stopped,
a healthy European society free from racism, such as anti-Gypsyism.
A Europe that we can be proud of.
Therefore,
we, the undersigned, affirm that we will continue to work to achieve that:
– regarding the post-2020 EU legislative era –
1. the European Commission puts forward a proposal for a post-2020 Strategic EU Framework for National Roma Inclusion Strategies (EU Framework) with a wide set of priority areas, clear targets, measurable goals, timelines and indicators for monitoring;
2. the European Council supports the proposal of the European Commission and safeguards the preparation and implementation of the EU Framework in the EU Member States;
3. the governments of the EU Member States prepare their renewed National Roma Inclusion Strategies with the meaningful and timely involvement of Roma and pro-Roma organisations;
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– regarding the upcoming EP elections –
4. the parties of the EU Member States actively reach out to Roma, and empower them to run as candidates for the EU Parliamentary elections;
5. the parties of the EU Member States refrain from using anti-Roma hate speech during their campaigns and condemn hate speech and scapegoating;
6. the parties of the EU Member States stop the shameful tradition of buying votes;
7. the governments of the EU Member States guarantee that Roma can fully enjoy their political rights;
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– regarding the work of the new European Parliament –
8. the newly elected Members of the European Parliament keep the fight against anti-Gypsyism and all kinds of racism on the agenda, safeguard the continuation of the Antiracism and Diversity Intergroup and consider the creation of an Anti-Gypsyism Intergroup;
9. the newly elected Members of the European Parliament guarantee the continuation of the annual Roma week in the European Parliament;
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– regarding the rights of Roma –
10. the governments, the parties and the duty-bearers of the EU Member States safeguard that Roma can be equal citizens with equal rights, and that they can fulfil their true potential as EU citizens.
We, the undersigned, want the EU
to remain true to its democratic values, respect for human rights,
non-discrimination and the rule of law.
´There is only one RACE – the human race.
There is only one RELIGION – love,
There is only one WORLD – or none at all.`
S i g n a t o r i e s :
Soraya Post
Romeo Franz
Benedek Jávor
Damian Draghici
Peter Niedermüller
Juan Fernando Lopez Aguilar
Dietmar Köster
Maria Arena
Tanja Fajon
Ana Gomes
Christine Revault d`Allonnes-Bonnefoy
Cornelia Ernst
Monika Vana
Cecilia Wikström
Karoline Graswander-Hainz
Barbara Lochbihler
Sylvie Guillaume
Georgi Pirinski
Ernest Urtasun
Julie Ward
Jose Inacio Faria
Terry Reintke
Estefania Torres Martinez
Csaba Sógor
Petri Sarvamaa
Sirpa Pietikäinen
Eleonora Forenza
Margrete Auken
Tania Gonzalez Penas
Norbert Neuser
Lynn Boylan
Miguel Urbán Crespo
Fredrick Federley
Igor Šoltes
Petra Kammerevert
Veronica Lope Fontagné
Esteban González Pons
Ana Miranda
Michal Boni
Theresa Griffin
Iratxe García-Perez
Martina Michels
Xabier Benito Ziluaga
Martina Anderson
Liadh Ní Riada
Lívia Járóka
Matt Carthy
Helmut Scholz
Tilly Metz
Julia Reda
Evelyne Gebhardt
Jens Geier
Angela Rosa Vallina de la Noval
Teresa Jimenez-Becerril Barrio
António Marinho e Pinto
Jozo Rados
Stelios Kouloglou
Jordi Solé
Bodil Valero
Brando Benifei
Josep-Maria Terricabras
The Roma Week would not make any sense without the active involvement of Roma activists from across Europe. Therefore, together with the Central Council of German Sinti and Roma, the Documentation and Cultural Centre and ternYpe International Roma Youth Network, ERGO Network invited a group of youth activists to prepare for the week in the Roma Youth Advocacy Training. Moreover, ERGO Network coordinated the participation of the most important Roma civil society activists in Europe under the umbrella of the ‘Alliance against Antigypsyism’ together with the Central Council of German Sinti and Roma.
On Wednesday, ERGO Network together with Cornelia Ernst MEP brought the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals as a tool to support the fight against antigypsyism to the agenda. The panel discussion was held together with Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP), Sozialfabrik and Soraya Post MEP. The panellists discussed recommendations to civil society on how to use the 2030 Agenda, brought by ERGO Network in the new paper ‘
Members of the European Parliament from different political groups signed a pledge affirming that they will continue to work to achieve non-racist EU elections, an effective Post-2020 EU Roma Framework and a continuation of the fight against antigypsyism in the new legislative period. The undersigned MEPs pledged to create a European society in which Roma can access and enjoy their rights set in our Treaties, in which Roma can fulfil their true potential, in which dehumanisation of Roma is stopped, a healthy European society free from racism, such as antigypsyism – a Europe that we can be proud of.
