Minority rights, the Roma, and neoliberal reform in EU accession

ABSTRACT

After the dissolution of the Soviet bloc, joining the European Union was a top priority for most East European countries. To join the EU, the Copenhagen Membership Criteria required that candidate countries develop stable democratic institutions, establish the rule of law, defend human rights, and ensure the protection of minorities in addition to creating free markets. While the EU was extraordinarily successful in promoting economic criteria for membership in minute and fundamental ways, its record of using the incentive of membership as a way of promoting and protecting minority rights was much more mixed, especially for the diverse Roma population.

KEYWORDS:

• Minority rights
• Roma
• EU enlargement
• neoliberalism
• European Union
• economic reform

Acknowledgements

The author wishes to acknowledge and thank Nathalie Chavez for her excellent research assistance on this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Romania’s 2003 regular report determines that, “The workings of the market mechanism must be completed by a greater willingness to liquidate loss-making enterprises and establish natural gas prices that appropriately reflect short and long-term costs. Having moved beyond the initial phases, restructuring and privatisation in key sectors, such as energy, mining and transport, must be brought forward. This would greatly support the establishment of a functioning market economy and the development of Romania’s capacity to cope with competitive pressure and market forces within the Union” (2003, 44).

2 The 2005 Report is very specific in its requirements across an enormous range of areas. For example, in the agricultural chapter it writes, “Further efforts are necessary regarding legal metrology, good laboratory practice for tests on chemical substances, aerosol dispensers, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals for human and veterinary use, wood in the rough, as well as agricultural and forestry tractors. Amendments are needed in the legislation transposing the acquis on glass, footwear and textiles. The latest transpositions on chemicals remain to be assessed” (2005, 27).

3 This summary of the Copenhagen Criteria quotes directly from the official EU website: http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/glossary/accession_criteria_copenhague_en.htm

4 Given the lack of an internal EU position on minority rights, it is not surprising that leaders in candidate countries noted the “double standard,” pointing to the treatment of minorities in Greece, France, and Germany for example (Johnson 2006, 35). In response to criticism, some Estonians countered that it was easier for a Russian to gain citizenship than for a Turkish “guest worker” in Germany.

5 For example, in Slovakia the PHARE program provided grants for the “institutional development of minority NGOs, human rights advocacy, Roma voter representation in parliamentary elections … [and a] pilot project (450,000 euros) aimed at improving the situation of the Roma population in the Spis region … targeting community development in five Roma settlements and pre-school education for Roma children” (Slovakia Regular Report 2002; 13). Also see Hlatky 2021.

6 Signatories included countries with larger Roma minorities, namely Albania, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, and Spain, with additional countries holding observer status.

7 https://esf.bg/en/european-network-on-social-inclusion-and-roma-under-the-structural-funds/ was incorporated into the 2007–2013 programming period of structural funds allocation.

8 In 2009, the then EU Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs, and Equal Opportunity, Vladimir Spidla, stated, "Roma inclusion is in the economic interest of the EU member states, by increasing productivity and state revenues. Furthermore, Roma inclusion will help develop a qualified workforce in conditions of an ageing society.” Press Release, European Network on Social Inclusion and Roma under the Structural Funds, Second Meeting of the Integrated European Platform for Roma Inclusion (28 Sept. 2009) available at http://www.euromanet.eu/newsroom/archive/second_meeting_of_the_integrated_european_platform_for_roma_inclusion

9 The author wishes to acknowledge the EEP editor for this point.

10 Estimates vary significantly on population size of the Roma over time. According to the European Roma Rights Center, the countries with the largest Roma population during the time of accession negotiations were Slovakia (11.1 percent), Romania (10.6 percent), and Bulgaria (10.8 percent). Other EU countries with significant Roma populations were Hungary (5.7 percent), Czech Republic (3.1 percent), Poland (0.2 percent), and outside the EU is Macedonia (17.5 percent). See the Economist March 20, 1999 for more data and discussion. More recently, the Economist published data from the Council of Europe, which estimates the Roma populations to be in Romania (8.6 percent), Bulgaria (9.9 percent), Slovakia (9.0 percent), and Hungary (7.5 percent) (Economist 2015, 2011 data). Often the European Commission cites relatively low numbers for Roma in Romania and Bulgaria at 5 percent of the population.

11 Oddly, the Commission report estimates the Roma population in Slovakia to range from 1.6 percent to 10 percent of the population. As noted in a previous estimate, the higher estimate is closer to estimates reported by other international organizations.

12 See earlier footnote for Roma population estimate. On percent of Turkish native speakers in Bulgaria, see Minority Rights Group International 2018 for more detail.

13 The author wishes to acknowledge the EEP editor for this point.