On Monday 14 December, the EU Council working party on “social questions” discussed a new version of the draft Council recommendation on “equality, inclusion and participation” of Romani communities - which EUROPE has obtained a copy of.
The document, dated 7 December, contains only slight changes to the Commission’s initial proposal, unveiled in early October (see EUROPE 12576/9).
For example, it introduces a paragraph calling on States to cooperate more with each other, including through “bilateral or multilateral projects and agreements” in order to “facilitate coordination on issues related to the cross-border movement (of Roma) within the territory of the Union [...]”.
The EU Council justifies this addition by stating that “Roma citizens in vulnerable situations are known to exercise their right to free movement of within the Union, either establishing themselves in Member States other than their Member State of origin in the long term, or staying temporarily, including in order to take up seasonal or short-term employment opportunities”.
Greater flexibility. However, most of the changes made to the text aim to establish “the primary responsibility of Member States”, in particular by emphasising the diversity of national realities.
“A common but differentiated approach is applicable depending on national circumstances, such as the number and share of Roma people in the total population, the general economic context and the specific characteristics of the target populations within each Member State [...]”, as one of the newly introduced recitals states.
Recital 17 has also been slightly amended to note that the collection of information on ethnic origin is not possible in some Member States. In addition, the text is now marked with the phrase “where possible”, repeated about ten times.
Finally, the initial proposal stated that states “should adopt national Roma strategic frameworks and communicate them to the European Commission by September 2021”.
Here, on the other hand, the choice is left to them between the adoption of such frameworks, on the one hand, and the adoption of an “integrated policy package”, on the other. These measures should be taken “as part of their broader social inclusion policies improving the situation of Roma” the text says.
Greater freedom is also given to the EU-27 with regard to the procedure for notifying the Commission. The revised text now states that the arrangements made should be communicated “preferably” before September 2021. (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki)