Czech Senate likely to reject European Commission's urging on Romani measures

The Czech Senate is evidently planning to object to the European Commission instructing the Member States on specific measures for the social inclusion of Romani people. The upper chamber’s EU Committee has recommended the Commission’s instructions to that body.

The EU Committee was responding to a report from the Commission on the application of EU rules to domestic Romani integration strategies. Senators will vote on the proposal in two weeks.

"Measures targeting inclusion of the Romani population should be adopted in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity at national level," the senators on the EU Committee previously agreed. They believe such measures should take into consideration the specific needs and situations of Romani communities in various regions in order to be effective. 

In its report, the Commission tasked the Member States with arranging for "non-discriminatory access by Roma" to health care, housing and the labor market. The Commission also instructed the Member States to make sure Romani children complete their mandatory school attendance without being subjected to discrimination or segregation. 

The Commission has named the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia as states which it believes have a basic problem with "the ongoing segregation of Romani children into the special schools". Those states, according to the Commission, "will have to introduce more consequential measures to end this state of affairs and to reverse it with the aid of an accessible, high-quality, inclusive mainstream education system." 

In its report, the Commission lamented the fact that not all of the money available for Romani social integration had been used during the past seven years. Between 2014 and 2020, there will be EUR 80 billion available in the European Social Fund, and at least one-fifth of that amount must be used for the fight against poverty and social exclusion. 

In its report, the Commission pledged to "provide annual political instructions" and recommendations to various countries about their Romani inhabitants. "The Romani population continues to face an alarming degree of discrimination in education, in health care and on the labor market, as well as living conditions that are fundamentally worse than those of their neighbors," Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion László Andor declared at the recent EU Roma Summit. 

Andor emphasized that Romani people represent a growing, significant component of the future labor force. However, if education systems do not facilitate their acquisition of the relevant skills, Romani people will not be able to take advantage of their potential to make up for the ramifications of an aging labor force in many countries.