“If there is one organisation that can and should do more to promote Roma inclusion, it is the European Union”, said Jan Marinus Wiersma today at a conference organised by the Socialist Group. The conference highlighted the continuing exclusion and discrimination faced by Roma communities in Europe and called for a comprehensive, cross-sector and coordinated European Roma Strategy.
Pressure on the Commission to present proposals for European policies to address the exclusion of and discrimination against Roma built up over recent months.
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The conclusions of the conference are defined by Jan Marinus WiersmaModerator Adrian Severin stressed the challenges of the Roma Strategy
Only in January the European Parliament, at the initiative of the Socialists, adopted a resolution calling on the European Commission to take action. In December 2007 the summit of European government leaders, for the first time in history, explicitly addressed the issue and called on the Union and its member states ‘to use all means to improve their inclusion.’
“We should ensure the current awareness is translated into political action”, said Socialist Group Vice-President Hannes Swoboda, who opened the conference.
“There is real momentum. A year ago it we couldn’t have imagined that we would actually be talking about a European Roma Strategy and having the perspective to have it”, said Andre Wilkens, Director of Open Society Institute in Brussels.
Adrian Severin, Socialist MEP from Romania, emphasised that the Enlargement of 2004 should be seen as an opportunity to achieve “complete emancipation of European Roma”, not as bringing the problems of Roma into Europe.
According to Commissioner Vladimir Spidla, who delivered a key note speech at the conference, “a balance between competence and leadership needs to be found.”
The European Commission will present a communication to the European Council ahead of the summit in June. While welcoming the Commissioner’s announcements, Socialist MEPs and participants at the conference called on the European Commission to use the current window of opportunity to formulate policy proposals.
According to the Socialist Group, a European Roma Strategy should balance responsibilities of the European Union, the member states and local authorities when dealing with Roma issues. At the same time, involvement of Roma representatives in policy formulation is a precondition for success.
The participants at the conference also showed strong consensus that Roma should be involved in policy making. “We should not treat Roma as a homogeneous group”, said Katalin Levai, who has been one of the most active voices on Roma issues both in Hungary and at the European level. “We have to recognize that there exist great differences and we have to take those into account in our policies.”
According to Adrian Severin social-democratic parties across Europe should take the lead on Roma issues, launching the idea of a network of spokespersons on Roma issues. He also said the Socialist Group would organise follow-up meetings to explore specific issues.
With its conclusions the Socialist Group joined a leading coalition of NGOs in its call for a more effective European policy to promote inclusion of Roma in Europe. The EU Roma Policy Coalition, which brings together NGOs such as the European Roma Grassroots Organisation (ERGO), the European Roma Information Office (ERIO), Open Society Institute and Amnesty International, presented its recommendations to Commissioner Spidla today.
