The debate in the European Parliament’s plenary session on Thursday 20 May on the inclusion of Romani communities in the EU opened with speeches tinged with disappointment and, for some, anger.
EPP and Greens/EFA coordinators Peter Pollák (Slovakia) and Romeo Franz (Germany), themselves from Romani communities, denounced the EU’s lack of ambition for ending discrimination and lack of consideration suffered by these communities in the EU. They represent 6 to 8 million EU citizens, 80% of whom are at risk of poverty.
“There are still thousands of Romani people in Europe who do not have access to drinking water, to running water, who do not go to school”, Peter Pollák insisted, arguing that the “nice declarations” made by “many politicians” at European level and in the Member States had so far not led to much progress.
Romeo Franz regretted that the new European 10-year framework for Romani “equality, inclusion and participation” (see EUROPE 12576/9) has “almost the same content” as the previous framework.
“This won’t produce any significant change, and the EU is losing all credibility on the topic”, he warned, denouncing the Union’s “soft policies” and “ continuously superficial approach” to the issue.
The chair of the Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties and coordinator of the Socialist Group, Juan Fernando López Aguilar (Spain), insisted that it is time to “legislate in the Member States”, which are competent in this area. “This debate must stir our consciences”, he said.
On behalf of The Left, Irish MEP Clare Daly also denounced the lack of improvement despite promises, pointing out that in her own country there is still no “clear implementation” of the plans developed over the last 10 years for the inclusion of Romani communities.
National initiatives. The new European strategy, presented in October, calls on the Member States to renew their national plans, taking into account the objectives and suggestions set by the Commission.
More optimistic than the MEPs, Commissioner for Equality Helena Dalli was confident that States would follow the framework.
“Member States are in the process of defining their national measures. They will have to submit their strategic frameworks to us by September and then report on the implementation of these frameworks every two years”, she said.
Last month, however, the Member States adopted EU Council recommendations (see EUROPE 12678/26) which gave them some freedom from the Commission’s original plans, notably that they could only adopt “an integrated set of policy measures” and that they should “preferably” inform the Commission of these by September. (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki)