All the minorities living in Europe, in particular the Romany communities, need "specific social protection". This was stated by the European Parliament that approved a report by the English MEP Elizabeth Lynne about fighting every form of discrimination, in Strasbourg today. The decision arrived just a few hours before the debate due to take place in the late afternoon about the situation of Romanies, whose conditions, according to Lynne, have got worse after the 2004 accession in several areas, including schooling, health, employment and women’s rights. The European Parliament generally claims that "discrimination based on gender, ethnic origin, religion or faith, disability, age or sexual orientation needs to be fought against". So the MEPs ask the EU Commission to issue a directive soon, covering all forms of discrimination, as laid down by the EU Treaties. Disabilities have been highlighted too. Parliament is waiting for "the development of the EU-wide definition of disability, so that all the disabled people of the EU will be able to assert the same rights regardless of the place they are in".
