Brussels, 17/09/2008 (Agence Europe) - The first EU summit on the Rom and travellers took place on Tuesday 16 September in Brussels in a climate that can only be described as somewhat heated. This meeting takes place two weeks after the EU's decision to allow the profiling of the Rom population in Italy. On this occasion, the EU made a clear commitment to defend the Rom against the significant discrimination they still suffer in Europe and to speed up their inclusion on the continent.
Failure observed. Despite the efforts, integration of the 10-12 million Roma in the Union remains a real headache. Poverty, exclusion and racism against the Rom can be seen throughout Europe. George Soros, the millionaire of Hungarian descent, supports the Rom through different foundations and pointed out that, “many Rom communities live in subhuman condition often associated with negative stereotypes that only worsen their situation”. Romani Rose, the president of the German Central Council of Sinti and Rom hammered home the fact that, “the EU must create binding rules to protect minorities. A programme needs to be put in place to improve the lives of the Rom. Lajos Korozs, the Hungarian secretary of state for work pointed out, “We haven't got 50-60 years to integrate the Rom. Tomorrow is yesterday, we have to act!”
Member states in front line. The president of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, warned that, “the dramatic situation of the Rom cannot be resolved from Brussels” and insisted that, “instruments to create change are in the hands of the member states. Policies for integrating the Rom are within the remit of member states”. The French presidency of the EU, represented by the French minister of housing and cities, Christine Boutin, made a commitment to submit concrete proposals to support the Rom during December's European Council. A declaration published at the Brussels conference will form the contribution to the work of the summit. Soraya Post, the president of the international Rom women's network immediately responded, “I hope that the December European summit will rule that this ethnic profiling in Europe is totally illegal”.
Rom always being accused. Several speakers vigorously denounced the practices of the Italian government. Mr Soros declared, “I am seriously concerned by the registration of the Rom in Italy…I fear that this will become the de facto norm in Europe”. May Bittel, a founding member of the Rom Forum and Travellers at the Council of Europe, asserted, “If we accept what has happened in Italy, the whole of Europe will follow”. Several Rom brandished t-shirts with the slogan “Against ethnic profiling” and managed to interrupt the Commission president's inaugural speech. The later informed the auditorium that the Commission rejected all discrimination or stigmatising of the Rom in the EU. In the afternoon, Eugenia Maria Roccella, the Italian under secretary of state for employment and social policies experienced something a little sharper. The Rom left the room during her speech, then returned to whistle, preventing her to finish her speech. On Wednesday 17 September, the Italian ambassador to the EU, Nelli Ferocia, sent a letter to the European Commissioner for employment, social affairs and equal opportunities, Vladimir Spidla, to express the dissatisfaction of her government with the incident and underlined the negative atmosphere when the under secretary of state was speaking.
Jacques Barrot's promise. The European Commissioner for justice and internal affairs, warned the Italian government against any practices contravening Community law, “We have said that we will not accept any ethnic or religious profiling…the Italian government has assured us that it intends to follow clear instructions. But the problem is in the application…I will not tolerate any practice that is incompatible with Community law. I will make this into a personal matter for me”. Former Spanish MEP Juan de Dios Ramirez Heredia said that he was convinced of the Commissioner's sincerity, before gently threatening that him that he would be “cursed by all the gypsies” if he did not keep his promises.
Concrete solutions. The representative from the European Roma Grassroots organisation, Valeriu Nicolae doubted the usefulness of this meeting, “we are currently received a soft line on integration, whereas they've been trying to expel us from Europe for 800 years and nobody today is telling us what we have to do to end anti-Rom behaviour”. Most speakers called for practical application of action to tackle the problems encountered by the Rom. Mr Spidla said that the laisser-faire approach was unacceptable and inefficient and called for measures promoting education, jobs and the rejection of prejudice and discrimination. The Commissioner recognised that to obtain this, a “concrete approach requires complex action”. (B.C./trans/rh)