A great step

“Today we have made a great step towards an EU-level effort to alleviate the poverty and social exclusion of our continent’s largest ethnic minority”, declared Livia Jaroka, Hungarian MEP and herself of Roma origin, the rapporteur of the text approved by the European Parliament, with a very large majority, on 9 March, which spells out the priorities for a “strategy of inclusion” for the Roma in Europe. A common approach. “This strategy – continued Livia Jaroka – must place its primary emphasis on the fulfilment and promotion of the fundamental rights to employment, housing, health care and education”. The EP adopted this official position in preparation for the recommendation that the Commission will publish in early April and that will have to be ratified by the European Council of 24 June, before entering into force. The EP, in its resolution, asks for the introduction of “binding minimum standards at the European level to promote the social, economic and cultural integration” of the 10-12 million Roma who live in the 27 member states. The Jaroka report underlines the need for a “roadmap” which includes a series of specific measures (to be realized also with EU funds) and the “possibility of imposing penalties on national governments for non-compliance”. “For eight centuries we Roma have been trying to live in Europe, but we have been subjected to innumerable attempts to force our assimilation – said Jaroka in a briefing to SIR Europe -. Today a meeting between Roma and non-Roma is needed with a view to defining a common approach”. A sense of hope. “On behalf of the Roma I feel I can say that we ourselves must recover a sense of hope”. Livia Jaroka, in her briefing to SIR Europe, touched on some of the details of the report that the EP approved and that describes the main guidelines for a strategy of inclusion of the Roma minority present in several EU countries. But how is it possible actively to involve the Roma population in this strategy? “We have a need for modern leaders in our communities, who are able to grasp the changes taking place and promote projects for participation and development”. Jaroka maintains that the Roma populations have suffered badly from the economic crisis, with further impoverishment and marginalization. “I am counting a lot on the role of women. They must face up squarely to current problems, as they have done hitherto, because positive changes don’t arrive overnight. Time is needed, perhaps fifty years. But just for this reason it is vital that member states and the EU take steps without any further delay”. More Roma children at school and at university, more Roma men and women in work, more Roma with decent housing: these are some of the “dreams” expressed by the Hungarian MEP, and supported by the current Hungarian presidency of the EU.Work and education. The issues tackled in the parliamentary report include, in particular, employment (ensuring effective access to the labour market; efforts to curb black-market labour), education (using, in countries with large Roma communities, more Roma mediators and teachers in schools to provide education in their language), combating social discrimination, and violations of fundamental rights. The EU Parliament denounces the “questionable repatriations” of Roma citizens as verified in various member states, which “have created fear and anxiety amongst the Roma population as well as worrying levels of racism and discrimination”, according to the resolution. Member states are invited to “make better and fuller use of EU programmes and funds” for the various forms of integration (Progress, Culture and Health programmes) and for ongoing learning.For and against. Positions opposing the Jaroka report were not lacking in the chamber and in the corridors of the EP in Strasbourg. So too were denunciations against the Roma populations, guilty, according to some MEPs, of “not wishing to be integrated”, and of “preferring crime to work”. Some MEPs asked for “precise commitments on the part of the Roma”, for example in the field of the education of children and the defence of the dignity of women. Jerzy Buzek, President of the EP, commented with satisfaction: “If we preach human rights around the world, we also need to respect them particularly in our own backyard. In particular, the European Parliament calls for equal access for Roma to employment, education and quality housing, the protection of fundamental rights, and the better use of EU funding” against discrimination at all levels. On the same wavelength is Viviane Reding, Vice President of the Commission. “The protection of minorities forms part of the basic values of the Union. This is an economic and social priority that no government can shirk. Public opinion also needs to be involved and convinced. The inclusion of the Roma is our duty and also in our own interest”.