31/10/2018 (Agence Europe) – On Monday 29 October during an event in Brussels, members of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), the European Parliament and civil society presented a worrying report on the state of the Roma in Europe with regards access to healthcare, their level of poverty and their life expectancy, which is on average 5-20 years less than the other European populations. Speakers, including Erika Koller, who chairs the EESC study group on social inclusion of the Roma, and Romeo Franz, MEP (Greens/EFA, Germany), denounced the forced sterilisation and the death rate of children and mothers, as well as the lack of vaccination coverage among the Roma. Jelena Jovanovic, from Ergo Network, said there must be a stop to the “empty words” of recommendations at European and national level. (PH)