Brussels, 29/11/2005 (Agence Europe) - The EP Committee on Women's Rights organised on 23 November a public hearing chaired by Anna Zaborska (EPP-ED, Slovakia) on the plight of Roma women in the EU. The meeting showed that new policies and tangible measures are absolutely necessary to tackle the problems these women face in both western and eastern European countries. The aim of the meeting was to allow international experts on the situation of the Roma, representatives of Roma women's associations, the European Commission and the Council of Europe to contribute to the own-initiative initiative on this sensitive issue, to be presented by Livia Jaroka (EPP-ED, Hungary) at the May 2006 plenary. The report, that Ms Jaroka hopes will have a positive impact on a European policy for Roma women, focuses on the most burning issues, obstacles that Roma women have to confront in their daily lives, based on segregated education, access to health care, the marginal position of Roma women on the labour market, social exclusion, anti-gypsism based on prejudice, sterilisation and multiple forms of discrimination.
During the debate, Anna Zaborska noted that, since the latest EU enlargement, the Roma has “become the most significant minority in the European Union”, and called for more attention to be paid to Roma women who are completely marginalised in society. Zita Gurmai (PES, Hungary) stressed how important it was to bridge the gap between the Roma and the rest of society. Luisella Pavan-Woolfe, of DG Employment/Social Affairs/Equal Opportunities at the European Commission, underlined that the EU has an important role to play to complement the efforts being made at local, regional and national level. Herta Toth of the Open Society Institute, Hungary, noted that 40% of Roma people had lost their jobs after the fall of communism in her country.