The Member States’ deputy ambassadors to the European Union (Coreper 1) have given the green light to draft conclusions aimed at ensuring access to housing for Roma communities. Drawn up by the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the EU, the text calls on Member States to “improve the housing situation of Roma and to eradicate housing segregation where segregated Roma settlements exist”.
Dedicated funding
In particular, it stresses the need to dedicate financial resources to this area. The draft conclusions stress that various EU funds can be mobilised, in particular the ESF+, the ERDF and the Next Generation EU and InvestEU instruments.
It also calls on EU countries to pay particular attention to building and maintaining infrastructure in disadvantaged neighbourhoods, such as access to water, energy, schools and transport.
And inclusion policies
However, the text specifies that these financial commitments must be accompanied by “active desegregation measures”. In this respect, it mentions the implementation of housing access initiatives dedicated to Roma communities, awareness-raising against discrimination as well as participation in civil society organisations active in this field to encourage their involvement in the political decision-making process.
These conclusions respond in part to the concerns raised by the European Commission’s report assessing Member States’ national strategic frameworks for the Roma. In particular, the report called on Member States to focus their actions on four themes, including housing (see EUROPE 13095/2).
However, the Council of the EU did not address the question of the effectiveness of investments as such, an issue raised on several occasions in the European Parliament during discussions on the inclusion of Roma communities (see EUROPE 13250/23, 13036/13).
The draft conclusion is due to be adopted by the ‘Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs’ Council (EPSCO) on 9 October.
The text: https://aeur.eu/f/8re (Original version in French by Hélène Seynaeve)