Brussels, 10/03/2010 (Agence Europe) - The integration of the Roma was debated with the Council and the Commission on Tuesday 9 March, at the plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, ahead of the second European Roma summit, to be hosted by the Spanish Presidency of the EU in Cordoba on 8 April. A resolution on this subject will be adopted by the plenary session of the EP to be held in Brussels on 25 March. An oral question put by four MEPs of the S&D Group - Hannes Swoboda (Austria), Monika Flasikova Benova (Slovakia), Kinga Göncz (Hungary) and Claude Moraes (UK) - stresses that European funding seems to "have a limited impact" on the socio-economic situation of the Roma. The European Commission is called upon to: (1) state how it intends to encourage the local authorities to make better use of the possibilities put forward by the structural funds in order to promote the integration of the Roma; (2) tackle both visible discrimination, such as racist violence and incitement to hatred, and less visible forms, such as inequality of access to public and social services.
The Spanish Secretary of State for European Affairs, Diego López Garrido, who was speaking on behalf of Spanish Presidency of the Union, said that work must be done using the open method of coordination (with non-binding objectives). The EP, for its part, prefers texts with the force of law and involving NGOs in assessing the situation of the Roma. "We feel that in order for the structural funds to be available to the Roma, it should be necessary to involve actively all local authorities as well as the Roma organisations (...). We should involve Roma in all the phases like planning, management, monitoring and evaluation of the projects", Garrido added. The gypsy population must have access to employment and health, Diego López Garrido told the end of the debate, calling for an anti-discrimination policy towards them, particularly the women, who are the main victims of violent attacks. This should not be done in a paternalist spirit, but in full respect of the identity and nature of the Roma.
The vice-president of the European Commission with responsibility for fundamental rights, Viviane Reding, stated that the Commission was committed to enforcing the directive banning discrimination on the basis of race or ethnic origin. "Discrimination against the Roma is fully covered by this directive", said Reding, who went on to thank the EP for carrying out pilot projects on the inclusion of the Roma, with a budget of €5 million over two years. These pilot projects focus on education for children from the earliest stage, assistance to the self-employed via micro-loans and raising public awareness of these issues, said the Commission vice-president.
The communication of the Commission will state explicitly that discrimination against the Roma for ethnic reasons is unacceptable, Viviane Reding confirmed. What can be done to put an end to this exclusion? This, the commissioner noted, is related to the observation of fundamental rights, but also economic issues; a study carried out by the World Bank shows the high cost of this exclusion, meaning that putting an end to it lies in everybody's interests. As for the strategy to be followed, Reding stated that this required neither a directive nor a fund for the Roma, but the much-quoted "mainstream" in all aspects of society, and involving children in pre-school and school systems.
During the debate, Monika Flasikova Benova said that "we have to look at problems of access to healthcare and education for Roma people; these are services that should be guaranteed by the member states, but here too children's rights are not being taken into account as they should be". On the basis of statistics, Hélène Flautre (Greens/EFA, France) pointed out that in 2009, one in every four members of the Roma community had been a victim of personal harassment, including threats, attacks and serious harassment, at least once over the last 12 months, whilst over the same period, one in every three Roma had been interviewed by the police an average of four times. "Marginalisation has heightened, thanks to the lack of awareness of their own rights", Flautre concluded. Livia Jaroka (EPP, Hungary), rapporteur for the EP on the European strategy for the Roma, said that it is extremely important to give the member states unambiguous definitions of the sectors in crisis which require immediate intervention. "Social disadvantages are unevenly spread across the regions and certain micro-regions have concentration of poverty and social exclusion; these regions must urgently be developed through intensive projects in keeping with the solidarity principle and a strategic planning", she added. The president of the committee on regional development of the EP, Danuta Hübner (EPP, Poland), called for "global action taking account of the problems of the Roma (...), for the local authorities to work hand-in-hand with us". Peter van Dalen (ECR, Netherlands) stressed that "we are talking here of social challenges, not financial or political challenges". In the view of Cornelia Ernst (GUE/NGL, Germany), the EU must adapt its structure now and not wait for 2014. "We want schools where all Roma can be integrated", she added. Nicole Kiil-Nielsen (Greens/EFA, France) pleaded for Roma issues to be integrated into all EU policies. For Lorenzo Fontana (EFD, Italy), "integration is a bilateral cultural process". (G.B./L.G./transl.fl)