EC orders integration plan by year's end

The European Commission (EC) said it will require member states to submit a national strategy for the integration of Roma by the end of the year, perhaps the most forceful call to action on the issue ever to come from Brussels.

The April 5 announcement echoes strongly across Central and Eastern Europe, where a higher concentration of Roma has shed particular light on problems with social and economic integration. The EC request was made just before April 8's International Roma Day and is compulsory for all 27 member states. While there remain no formal penalties for states that fail to submit a report, the call from the European Union's powerful executive branch carries more weight than the largely nonbinding statements coming from groups like the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

The EC ordered member states to set goals for improving Roma access to education, jobs, health care and housing. The demand also promises a "robust monitoring system" to ensure the implementation of the plans.

"There's a degree of peer pressure. ... It's up to individual member states to step forward and make a difference rather than have endless talk shops about helping the Roma," said Matthew Newman, spokesman for the European commissioner on justice, fundamental rights and citizenship. "What the EU can do is help coordination." 

The Czech Republic, where the exact Roma population remains in question but is estimated to be about 2.5 percent of the population, has failed to meet numerous deadlines on Roma integration projects in the past, particularly in the area of education.

A 'progressive country'

The ECHR ruled in 2007 that public schools disproportionately placed Roma children in special education programs meant for children with mental disabilities. In the wake of the ruling, the country has missed numerous deadlines to present a plan for correcting the problem.

Newly appointed Human Rights Commissioner Monika Šimůnková insisted "the Czech Republic is a very progressive country in the respect of human rights and programs which target the improvement of the Roma community," in an e-mail to The Prague Post. 

She said the country already had a concept for Roma inclusion for the years 2010 through 2013 that "in principle deals with all the areas which are mentioned by the European Framework Strategy," adding that a 2005 National Action Plan for the Decade of Roma Inclusion also goes "beyond the minimum requirements of the European Roma Framework Strategy."

"With a proper monitoring system [the European Roma Framework Strategy] creates a new opportunity to share and learn from one another," she said.

Roma rights advocates have praised the EC's plan as a step forward but said the action still isn't strong enough.

"The commission was silent on one critical impediment to Roma inclusion: anti-Gypsyism, which manifests itself in intimidation, harassment and violence against Roma," said Rob Kushen, executive director of the Budapest-based European Roma Rights Centre. "Unless states take forceful action against anti-Gypsyism, Roma will continue to be second-class citizens in Europe."

One of the most pressing issues that led to the request for strategies, Newman said, was that almost 70 percent of funding for Roma integration from EU cohesion programs has been left untapped by member states, as governments are unable or unwilling to match the funds.

"There is a lack of critical will. To be honest, this is not a popular vote-winning issue," he said.

Šimůnková said there were programs set up to use EU funds for Roma integration, but said data on how much was drawn in 2010 was unavailable.

Cat Contiguglia can be reached at
ccontiguglia@praguepost.com