Is the EU Roma Framework floundering? Commission reports patchy progress, limited impact and rising racism
04 September 2017
Wednesday’s assessment of the EU Roma Framework by the Commission marks a valiant attempt to resuscitate and revitalize a process that has been dangerously debilitated by the disinterest, perfidy and bad faith of key Member States when it comes to social inclusion, fundamental rights and justice for their Romani citizens. Commission First Vice-President Frans Timmermans put it more diplomatically:
"The EU is built on the values of tolerance and equality. These values are not yet enjoyed by every EU citizen, and that is not acceptable. Member States have to accelerate their efforts to improve Roma integration if we are to put an end to the prejudices, segregation and discrimination still felt by Roma today."
While the Commission reports broad consensus that the biggest achievement of the EU framework is putting Roma inclusion high on the European and national political agendas; as far as real change in the lives of Roma is concerned, “five years is too short a period to undo centuries of discrimination.” Improvements in the areas of education, employment, health, and housing are described as “unequal and modest.”
Jourova breaks silence on Bugaria; promises ‘brutal’ review of EU funding; and hints at possible action on Italy
In a press conference on Wednesday, EU Justice Commissioner Vera Jourova told reporters that the Commission will “brutally assess the efficiency of EU funding” in combating discrimination in an effort to ensure that post-2020 strategies for Roma inclusion might actually work. Better late than never: for over a decade, Roma and pro-Roma organisations have called on the EU to commission an external audit of how Member States use funds purportedly earmarked for Roma inclusion.
Concerning years of foot-dragging by the European Commission concerning mass evictions of Roma in Italy, Jourova said the Commission has asked Italian authorities for data and documents and “will only open a lawsuit if there is clear evidence of discrimination.” The Commission has long had clear evidence of discrimination, supplied by the ERRC, Amnesty International and Associazione 21 luglio. Moreover as the Financial Times revealed last April, “the European Commission repeatedly blocked publication of a report recommending sanctions against Italy for mistreatment of its Roma minority, in an attempt to avoid a damaging public row.” It remains to be seen whether the Commissioner was merely deflecting the question or if the EC is prepared to take on Italy and show that the Race Equality Directive applies equally to all Member States.
Breaking the official silence over Bulgaria’s racist Deputy Prime Minister Valeri Simeonov, Jourova stated, “I think that if I see that a minister is racist I will go to the prime minister. And I will do that if necessary.” Should these tentative ‘ifs and buts’ translate into action, it will mark a turnaround from last week’s response from the Commission to the ERRC’s call for action on the scandalous appointment of Simeonov to head Bulgaria’s National Council on Co-operation on Ethnic and Integration Issues. The Commission replied that while it condemns all forms of racism in the EU, it could not comment as it “has no direct competence over alleged cases of hate speech or hate crime in Member States.”
Perfidy and bad faith
The appointment of Simeonov goes to the heart of the problem. That an extremist who described Roma as “brazen feral, human-like creatures” could be given responsibility for Roma inclusion is a deeply cynical and calculated insult from Bulgaria to the entire EU Roma Framework; and it stands as a gesture of hostility and contempt towards Bulgaria’s Roma population.
Similarly, in light of the ongoing infringement proceedings against Hungary for school segregation, the recent statement by Minister for Human Resources, Zoltán Balog suggests that, as with many other fundamentals of democracy, Hungary is willfully out of step with European values. Balog stated: “it is necessary to decide whether integrated schools are good or whether there should be separate schools for Romani children with a separate educational program for them.” The minister seems to be blithely unaware that racial segregation has long been ruled illegal by the European Court of Human Rights.
As regards school segregation in Slovakia, the authorities have refused to shift despite a landmark district court ruling on school segregation and ongoing EU infringement proceedings. Something of the official attitude can be garnered from the government’s racist response in 2015 to EU criticism about the disproportionate placement of Roma pupils in ‘special’ schools for children with disabilities: “One of the reasons why there is higher occurrence of genetically determined disorders is that Slovak Roma have the highest coefficient of interbreeding in Europe.”
Since the launch of the Framework, ERRC has compiled evidence of continuing and deep discrimination, including forced evictions, residential and school segregation; police violence and ethnic profiling; grave disparities in health care provision and a widespread lack of access to clean water and sanitation for Roma communities.
Justice must prevail without prejudice
A nationwide survey in Slovakia showed an almost complete lack of trust amongst Roma in the institutions that could successfully resolve discrimination, and a lack of information as to where and to whom to turn for legal aid. Many respondents held the conviction that discrimination is so normal and widespread that it makes no sense to oppose it and that in Slovakia it is not possible to achieve justice.
The ERRC has recorded a significant number of violent attacks and incidents of harassment committed by police against Roma, including minors, which have not been investigated effectively. In most of the cases monitored, there have been no successful prosecutions of offenders.
The ERRC in written comments in 2015 to the UN expressed particular concern about anti-Roma violence and racism in Romania: “The climate of impunity for hate speech, stigmatisation, and discrimination is compounded by the absence of a robust framework to address anti-Roma violence, in particular violence perpetrated by the police.”
In December 2015, the United Nations Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights said of Romania “Many officials are in a state of denial about both the extent of poverty in the country and of the systemic and deep-rooted discrimination against the extremely poor, especially the Roma.” The evidence amassed by ERRC makes one thing clear: unless justice can prevail without prejudice for Roma citizens of the European Union, the EU Roma Framework is doomed to fail ignobly.
Beyond 2020
For its part, the Commission is quite frank about the shortfalls: “Overall, the situation has not improved over the years. Discrimination and racism affecting Roma is still present and widespread in all key areas. Hate speech and hate crime continue significantly to affect the Roma community.”
In the face of apathy, weak governance and a lack of political commitment in key member states with large Roma populations, where politics is characterized by democratic backsliding, rising racism and political nativism, there is a real danger between now and 2020 that the Framework will simply expire.
The Commission harbours no illusions about closing the gaps between Roma and non-Roma by the Framework end-date of 2020. Its declared intent to develop a strengthened post-2020 strategic approach to Roma inclusion is a welcome signal that the Commission is digging in for the long haul in the battle against racism and discrimination.
