Brussels, 03/01/2011 (Agence Europe) - The Hungarian Presidency of the EU has set the objective of the June 2011 European Council adopting a strategy for the social integration of the Roma, which is due to be devised and unveiled by the Commission in the first quarter of the year. The strategy will be the first of a series of common EU measures for the Roma and will be used by the member states as a basis for their own reform programmes in this connection.
The EU integration policy to be introduced for the Roma will not only help ethnic Roms, but also any section of society forced to live in similar conditions. The Hungarian Presidency is planning to deal with the social integration of the Roma through an over-arching approach (meaning that Hungary will try to make integration of the Roma an aim of all other related policies, wanting integration of the Roma and other sidelined groups to be highlighted in the member states' national reform programmes) and will use the results of civil forms to be held in the first six months of this year for this purpose. The social pillar of the EU 2020 strategy may also play a particularly important role here because it stresses the importance of tackling poverty to increase employment and reduce the school drop-out rate, along with increasing the number of people who achieve higher education qualifications. The Presidency says that improving the situation of the Roma can be connected with objectives at EU level.
The Hungarian Presidency also wants to take a proactive approach to the collection and sharing of best practice, reviewing the various national, EU and international programmes currently under way to see how to avoid duplication and bottlenecks in the future. Hungary says it backs the Commission's initiative to make resources more accessible, suggesting that controls be stepped up.
In brief, the Hungarian Presidency's objectives are: (1) to ensure that in the first six months of 2011, the various Council formations examine the European backdrop to the national Roma inclusion strategies, a backdrop to be drawn up by the Commission; (2) the results will be summarised by the General Affairs Council and submitted to EU heads of state in June 2011 for confirmation of the strategy; (3) the situation of the Roma and poor people in general, particularly children, will be covered by EU policy separately from other EU policies. The Hungarian Presidency will do its utmost to ensure that this issue is included across the board in implementation of the EU 2020 strategy. Further information: http://www.eu2011.hu (G.B./transl.fl)