Brussels, 29/09/2009 (Agence Europe) - To ensure the Roma community enjoys equal rights and equal chances in life, those taking part in the second meeting of the EU Platform for Roma Inclusion, in Brussels on Monday 28 September (see EUROPE 9983), highlighted that access to high quality education and training was important and necessary. To break the cycle of unemployment and poverty which bring poor housing and bad health, the Commission is calling on member states to adopt a constructive approach devised in collaboration with the Roma community and, in their interest, to promote Roam culture as an integral part of mosaic of European cultures.
Swedish Secretary of State for Integration and Equal Opportunities Christer Hallerby regretted that European legislation to tackle all forms of discrimination was not being used. He highlighted the need to concentrate on the education and training of Roma children to prevent them from following in the same path as their parents, who have suffered from a lack of educational opportunity that begins the vicious circle. Hallerby highlighted, too, the “responsibility of parents to see what is needed to make sure their children can break out of this situation”.
Access to high quality education is the key to Roma integration into society, but a “holistic” approach is needed, said Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities Vladimir Spidla. Integration must be national, but it also has to be local and regional, Spidla said. The Commission, then, is calling on member states to adopt a constructive approach prepared in cooperation with the Roma community and in their interest. The Commission, it was said forcefully, rejects all forms of populism. It is very difficult for the Commission to have a common approach towards the Roma given the vast differences that exist between these communities. A one-size-fits-all approach towards the Roma is not possible, Spidla said, noting what he felt were two key points: the principle of an explicit but not exclusive approach to Roma inclusion, and specific approaches should aim to get Roma into mainstream jobs, mainstream housing and mainstream education.
Education Commissioner Ján Figel' said he was convinced that Roma integration initiatives, projects and programmes in all areas, including education and housing, could not succeed if their entire culture was surrounded buy misconceptions and misunderstandings. “We know that the cultural map of Roma is entirely different from those of the majority of European cultures. For instance, as a result of their social conditions, Roma artists are virtually invisible in our cities and towns, and Roma culture is mainly perceived through crude stereotypes. This is unacceptable. It is fundamental to promote Roma culture as an integral part of Europe's cultural mosaic,” Figel' stated, calling for greater visibility to be given to Roma heritage, traditions, language and contemporary artistic expression. “There is no better way to understand the way of life and the perceptions of a community,” Figel' argued.
In a joint statement, Commissioners Spidla and Figel' said: “The inclusion of the Roma is a litmus test for the European Union as a community of rights and values. Only if we can guarantee that every Roma man, woman and child has both equal rights, but also equal chances in life, can we honour the values on which the EU is built. We need pragmatic, constructive and non-discriminatory policies which are targeted to Roma without excluding other people in a similarly disadvantaged situation”.
In his speech, Romanian expert with the Roma Education Fund Mihai Surdu stressed the importance of access to education. A great many Roma have never been in education, the level of participation in pre-school education is extremely low, the transition rate to higher secondary education is very slow and drop-out rates are consistently high. Surdu said that simply putting a Roma child in special education (as happens in Hungary, Bulgaria, Serbia, Montenegro, the Czech Republic and Slovakia) or in classes separate from non-Roma children (as happens in most countries), or in majority Roma “neighbouring schools” (which happens mostly in Romania and Hungary) is a serious barrier to their integration and encourages the creation of ghettos. Assistant Director General of DG Regio at the European Commission Katarina Mathernova said that structural funds had to be used, and also micro-credit and media campaigns to help the Roma people integrate into society. (G.B./transl.rt)