‘Non multa, sed multum’: EU Roma policy and the challenges of Roma inclusion

Abstract

The Roma face widespread discrimination and marginalisation in the EU. To address these, the Commission adopted an EU Roma policy—‘EU Framework for National Roma Integration Strategies’ (2011)—which is implemented with the support of EU legal, financial and soft law instruments. This paper investigates the effectiveness and implications of EU Roma policy in addressing the social exclusion and discrimination faced by the Roma by assessing the policy framing, the key EU instruments and whether they address the root causes of Roma marginalisation. It is argued that the socio-economic framing of Roma exclusion—underpinning the EU Roma policy—along with the EU instruments upholding its implementation, both blurred the responsibility boundaries for Roma inclusion between the EU and national levels, and also proved ineffective and ill-designed in addressing the root causes of Roma exclusion and discrimination.

Keywords:

• Discrimination
• Roma
• policy framing
• anti-Gypsyism
• EU Roma policy

Notes

1. The Decade of Roma Inclusion 2005–2015 was a political commitment by European governments to eliminate discrimination against Roma and close the gaps between Roma and the majority population. See the official website: http://www.romadecade.org/index.

2. These are policy sectors that had been also targeted by the Decade of Roma Inclusion.

3. The OMC provides an intergovernmental framework for cooperation between the EU countries, whose national policies can thus be directed towards certain common objectives. As a soft law instrument, the OMC covers policy sectors that fall under the jurisdiction of the Member States.

4. The ‘Roma issue’ or ‘Roma problem’ generically denotes here the wide set of problems, among which key are structural discrimination, poverty and exclusion, faced by the Roma communities across Europe. See for instance ‘European Union Confronts Its Roma Problem’ (2014) Wall Street Journal, April 22.

5. The findings of this article are based on an extensive set of 35 qualitative interviews conducted with European Commission officials (DG Justice, DG Employment, DG Education) and Roma NGOs and experts in Brussels and London between May-July 2015 as part of a project ‘Human Rights in Times of Crisis’ funded by the Strategic Interdisciplinary Research Development Fund (School of Social Sciences award, University of Southampton).

6. According to Roma NGOs, the dire poverty suffered by the Roma is a consequence of their discrimination, and at the same time, the Roma’s poverty is conducive to their discrimination. Author’s interviews with Roma NGOs, Brussels, May 2015.

7. The Italian and French governments deported Bulgarian and Romanian citizens perceived as ‘Roma’.

8. According to both Commission officials and Roma NGOs, the EU accession policy failed to tackle successfully the inclusion of the Roma in Central and Eastern Europe. Author’s interviews with Commission officials and Roma NGOs, Brussels, June 2015.

9. According to Commission evidence the ‘full Roma integration in the labour market could bring economic benefits estimated to be around € 0.5 billion annually […] the tax benefits of Roma integration in the labour market are estimated to be around € 175 million annually per country’ (European Commission 2011, 3).

10. In 2010 the World Bank published an influential study—Roma Inclusion: An Economic Opportunity for Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Romania and Serbia (http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/196921468261335364/pdf/696550ESW0P1180Economic0Opportunity.pdf)-in which it provided empirical evidence supporting Roma’s socio-economic integration at the national level. It has been argued that the World Bank study was influential in providing the Commission with the necessary evidence for embracing the socio-economic approach to Roma integration. Author’s interviews with Commission officials and Roma NGOs, June 2015.

11. Author’s interview with Roma NGOs, Brussels, May 2015.

12. Under the same investment priority, the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) can support investment in health care and social infrastructure (according to the Common Provisions Regulation).

13. ‘Guidance for Member States on the use of European Structural and Investment Funds in tackling educational and spatial segregation’, EGESIF 15-002401, 2005, available from http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/en/information/publications/guidelines/2015/guidance-for-member-states-on-the-use-of-european-structural-and-investment-funds-in-tackling-educational-and-spatial-segregation.

14. For instance, Europe 2020 prioritises education with the aim of reducing the rate of early school leaving to below 10% and ensuring that at least 40% of young adults have completed higher education (European Council 2009).

15. The Roma Framework demands that the Member States put in place specific mechanisms for monitoring and assessing the implementation of the Roma strategies, yet these mechanisms lack in most of the Member States (European Commission 2016).

16. The Commission’s evaluation draws on data collected by the Commission itself, Member States’ reporting back, as well as on input from civil society organisations (some of the inputs are accessible at https://cps.ceu.edu/roma-civil-monitor-civil-society-monitoring-reports).

17. According to Commission officials in DG Justice. Author’s interview with Commission officials, Brussels, June 2015.

18. Authors’ interview with Roma stakeholders, Brussels, May 2015.

19. The two main legal instruments are the Employment Equality Directive 2000/78/EC and the Racial Equality Directive 2000/43/EC (RED). In the case of the Roma, the RED is particularly relevant and applicable in relation to instances of discrimination faced by them.

20. Some Roma NGOs have claimed that the Commission’s evaluations have not been critical enough primarily in order to not upset the Member States vis-a-vis their record on Roma protection. Author’s interviews with Roma NGOs, Brussels, May 2015.

21. As one of the interviewees made it clear: this constitutes one of the main shortcomings of the EU funds. Authors’ interview with Roma NGOs, Brussels, May 2015.

22. The EU funds, as a Roma NGO put it, can still be employed to perpetuate the segregation of Roma communities, as ‘one of the most effective ways to address discrimination is via sanctioning the misuse of EU funds for projects that contribute to the segregation of Roma communities’. Author’s phone interview with Roma NGOs, June 2015.

23. European Parliament resolution of 25 October 2017 on fundamental rights aspects in Roma integration in the EU: fighting anti-Gypsyism, available from http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&reference=P8-TA-2017-0413&language=EN&ring=A8-2017-0294.

24. This is a view widely shared by the majority of Roma NGOs and experts.

25. According to recent European surveys, the majority population (for example 85% in Italy, 66% in France, 53% in Greece, 50 % in UK) hold unfavourable views of Roma (Global Attitude Survey 2014).

26. According to Justice Commissioner Vera Jourova ‘The Romani minority is the first to be afflicted by the deteriorating situation in Europe’ (http://www.romea.cz/en/news/world/eu-justice-commissioner-says-situation-of-romani-people-is-not-improving).

27. According to Van Baar (2014, 29) ‘The argument goes that you are rightfully entitled to act against them and treat them differently, because they cause inconvenience indulge in criminal activity and can generally be expected to cause trouble’.

28. Author’s interview with Roma NGOs and Commission officials in DG Justice, June 2015.

29. The European Parliament Resolution rightly highlights this major shortcoming by asking the Commission to ‘place anti-Gypsyism in the focus of the post-2020 EU Framework in addition to social inclusion, and to introduce anti-discrimination indicators in the fields of education, employment, housing health, etc., as anti-Gypsyism undermines the successful implementation of National Roma Integration Strategies’ (European Parliament 2017, 14).

30. Author’s phone interview with Roma stakeholders, London, June 2015.