The European Parliament,

–  having regard to Articles 3, 6, 7, 29 and 149 of the EC Treaty, which commit the Member States to ensuring equal opportunities for all citizens,

–  having regard to Article 13 of the Treaty of Amsterdam, which enables the European Community to 'take appropriate action to combat discrimination based on racial or ethnic origin',

–  having regard to Directive 43/2000/EC, known as the Race Equality Directive, which bans discrimination on ethnic grounds,

–  having regard to Article 4 of the Council of Europe Framework Convention on National Minorities and the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms,

–  having regard to Article 3 of Recommendation 1557/2002 of the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers underlining the widespread discrimination against Roma and the need to strengthen the monitoring system on discrimination against them(1),

–  having regard to the document of the European Union (COCEN GROUP) adopted at the Tampere Summit in 1999 entitled 'Situation of Roma in the Candidate Countries', which underlines the need to raise awareness about the racism and discrimination faced by Roma,

–  having regard to the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, including the Charter of Fundamental Rights, signed and proclaimed by the Presidents of the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on behalf of their institutions at the Nice European Council in December 2000(2),

–  having regard to the Charter of European Parties for a Non-Racist Society(3),

–  having regard to the establishment of a Group of Commissioners responsible for fundamental rights, anti-discrimination and equal opportunities(4), in which connection the European Parliament awaits the presentation of the Group's agenda,

–  having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1035/97 establishing a European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia, to the EUMC's annual and thematic reports on racism in the EU and to the Commission Green Paper on equality and non-discrimination in an enlarged European Union (COM (2004)0379),

–  having regard to the recent publication by the Commission of a report drawing attention to very disturbing levels of hostility and human rights abuses against Roma, Gypsies and Travellers in Europe(5),

–  having regard to the report currently before the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs on the protection of minorities and anti-discrimination policies (2005/2008 (INI)) and the European Parliament resolution of 27 January 2005 on the Holocaust, Anti-Semitism and Racism (RSP/2004/2634),

–  having regard to international legal instruments such as General Recommendation XXVII ('Discrimination against Roma') of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), and General Policy Recommendation 3 (combating racism and intolerance against Roma/Gypsies) of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI)(6),

–  having regard to Rule 103(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

A.  whereas 8 April has been designated International Roma Day(7) and is considered to be the annual day of celebration for Roma, as well as an opportunity for raising awareness of Europe's largest ethnic minority and the extent of its social exclusion,

B.   whereas 7-9 million Roma living in the European Union are suffering racial discrimination and many of them are subject to multiple discrimination on the basis of gender, age, and disability,

C.   whereas the unique aspect of the Roma's history as a centuries-old European minority will require that steps be taken to finally include Roma in society and will also make it necessary to address societal attitudes which are long-embedded and are fundamentally crippling the ability of Roma to lead lives with full and equal dignity,

D.   whereas, while many Member States have quickly transposed into national law Directive 2000/43/EC(8), a number have failed to do so or have done so incompletely or incorrectly,

E.   whereas the Romani Holocaust deserves full recognition commensurate with the gravity of Nazi crimes designed to physically eliminate the Roma of Europe as well as the Jews,

F.   whereas anti-Gypsyism is still widespread, with Roma regularly the targets of racist attacks, hate speech, physical attacks by extremist groups, unlawful evictions, police harassment and overall denied their rights as citizens,

G.   particularly alarmed by recent incidents in which heads and other members of major political parties in Member States have used anti-Roma statements among the population at large in efforts to garner votes,

H.   whereas in a number of countries there exist clear indications that police services and other institutions of the criminal justice system are infected with anti-Romani bias leading to systemic racial discrimination in the exercise of criminal justice,

I.   whereas Roma continue to be underrepresented in governmental structures and public administration in Member States and Candidate Countries where they constitute a significant percentage of the population; whereas their governments are committed to increasing the number of Roma working in decision-making structures but have yet to move forward in this respect,

J.   whereas Roma are regularly discriminated against in the provision of health care and whereas the European Parliament notes with concern cases of segregation in maternity wards and the sterilisation of Roma women without their consent,

K.  whereas substandard and unsanitary living conditions and evidence of ghettoisation exist on a wide scale, with Roma regularly prevented from moving out of such neighbourhoods,

L.   having regard to the racially segregated schooling systems in place in several Member States and Candidate Countries, as a result of which Roma children are, at best, taught under lower-quality curricula and, at worst, placed in institutions reserved for the mentally disabled,

M.   whereas in some Member States and Candidate Countries mainstream media continue to underrepresent Roma in their programming while simultaneously reinforcing a negative stereotype of the Roma citizen through news articles, television and radio shows,

N.   whereas comprehensive research and data on grave violations of human rights and racial abuse against Roma in Member States and Candidate Countries are lacking,

O.   whereas a significant number of Roma citizens from Craiova region, Romania, have recently applied for political asylum in Bologna, Italy, due to racial discrimination and persecution in their country of origin, a number of whom have already had their cases rejected and been relocated in provisional transition camps until expulsion, while a very similar fate awaits the rest,

1.   Welcomes the recent declaration by Commission President Barroso regarding the importance of eliminating discrimination against Roma people and the role which the Lisbon Strategy could play in improving opportunities for Roma(9), and urges the Council, the Commission, Member States and Candidate Countries to publicly take steps to combat Romaphobia in all forms, be it at the local, national, regional or EU level, as the European Parliament itself intends to do;

2.   Urges the Commission to include the issue of combating Romaphobia across Europe among its priorities for the 2007 European Year of Equal Opportunities for All, and calls on political and civil society at all levels to make clear that racial hatred against Roma is not tolerated in European society;

3.   Commends Member States for quickly transposing into national law Directive 43/2000/EC(10), and urges those which are currently subject to 'non-communication' infringement procedures to take steps to rectify their lack of progress;

4.   Calls on the institutions of the European Union, the Member States, Candidate Countries and all European democratic political parties to unequivocally condemn all forms of anti-Gypsyism/Romaphobia, intolerance, incitement to hatred and harassment or violence;

5.   Calls for comprehensive human rights education for law enforcement and judicial systems, as well as the inclusion of this material in education institutions so that officials working in these fields are aware of European anti-discrimination legislation and of the social values of European society;

6.   Urges governments in regions with significant Roma populations to take further steps to integrate Roma civil servants at all administrative and decision-making levels in line with previous commitments and to allocate the necessary resources for the proper and effective performance of the duties associated with such positions;

7.   Urges the Commission, Member States and Candidate Countries to work together to specifically target Roma in National Development Plans (NDPs) to combat social exclusion, life-long learning programmes and other mechanisms developed under the Open Method of Coordination, in keeping with the goals of the Lisbon Strategy;

8.   Calls on the Commission to publicly encourage national governments to ensure that, when funding programmes are aimed at Roma, Roma actors are involved in the design and implementation of such projects, and that civil society organisations working on Roma issues are regularly updated on the funding and programmes available to them in their work;

9.   Calls on Member States and Candidate Countries to take steps to ensure equal access to health care for all, to end segregation of Roma in maternity wards, to prevent the practice of sterilisation of Romani women and to make accountable in courts of law any physician and medical personnel responsible for such acts;

10.  Considers that the current ghettoisation in existence across Europe is unacceptable, and calls on Member States and Candidate Countries to take concrete steps to bring about deghettoisation: to combat discriminatory practices in providing housing and to assist Roma individuals in finding alternative, sanitary housing;

11.  Calls on Member States and Candidate Countries in which Roma children are segregated into schools for the mentally disabled or placed in separate classrooms from their peers to embark upon desegregation programmes within a predetermined period of time, thus ensuring free access to quality education for Roma children and preventing the rise of anti-Romani sentiment amongst schoolchildren;

12.  Proposes to revive and update its 1989 Resolution on the Education of Roma, Sinti and Travellers' Children, and to make it a priority to ensure that all Roma children have access to mainstream education;

13.  Calls for the teaching of the Roma cultural heritage (their language and history) to Roma schoolchildren as an important future goal for education; encourages Member States to include information on the national Roma population in the mainstream educational curriculum;

14.  Calls on mainstream media to establish best practices for hiring staff who reflect the composition of the population, and in doing so to draw on best practices already in existence(11);

15.  Calls for coordination among EU-level, national and local authorities to disseminate information via a campaign to Roma communities on the opportunities and best practices available to tackle social exclusion in housing, health care, education and employment;

16.  Calls on Member States and Candidate Countries to ensure that comprehensive research is carried out concerning the situation of the Roma and to improve possibilities of data collection on human rights violations and racial abuse while adopting a sensitive approach and respecting the right to self-determination;

17.  Urges the EUMC, and upon creation, the FRA to devote more attention to the rampant anti-Gypsyism/Romaphobia present in Europe, to allocate the necessary resources, through the creation of units and bodies specialised in monitoring racial abuse and human rights violations against the Roma, to provide comprehensive reports to the European Institutions and National Authorities of Member States and Candidate Countries on their findings;

18.  Welcomes the formation of the European Roma and Travellers Forum, and the work of groups within Parliament focused on Roma and minority issues; recognises the importance of cooperation with such bodies when formulating Roma policies in Europe;

19.  Welcomes the Decade for Roma Inclusion Initiative to which five Member States and Candidate Countries are signatories and urges the Commission to work in concert with the governments concerned to allocate relevant EU programme funding so as to bring the Initiative to fruition;

20.  Calls on the Italian Government and the Italian authorities responsible to humanely consider the case of the Roma asylum-seekers from Craiova region, Romania, to carefully and fairly investigate the reasons for their asylum applications and to act in accordance with international and European conventions and regulations on the status of asylum-seekers;

21.  Urges the Romanian Government and the local authorities concerned to take the necessary steps to improve the situation of the Roma in Dolj county, Romania, and to do so without delay or discrimination;

22.  Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission and the governments and parliaments of the Member States and Candidate Countries.

(1) Article 15 f, paragraph viii. (2) Article 1-2 of the Constitution refers to 'human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities' as one of the values on which the 'Union is founded'. (3) The 'Charter of European Political Parties for a Non-Racist Society' is the proposal of the EU Consultative Commission on Racism and Xenophobia to the political parties in the European Union. The text was adopted by this Commission on 5 December 1997. (4) European Commission President José Manuel Barroso announced this initiative in his speech to the European Parliament on 26 October 2004, saying that the Group (which he will chair) will be handed the task of monitoring all Commission actions and major initiatives in these areas as well as acting as a political driving force. (5) 'The Situation of Roma in an Enlarged Europe' commissioned and published by DG Employment and Social Affairs, 2004. (6) General Recommendation no 3, 'Combating racism and intolerance against Roma and Gypsies'. (7) International Roma Day was established in 1971 at the First Romani World Congress. (8) OJ L 180, 19.7.2000, p. 22. (9) Commenting at the launch of the 'Lisbon Scorecard V' on 17 March 2005. (10) OJ L 180, 19.7.2000, p. 22. (11) BBC Producers' Guidelines, which form part of the BBC's comprehensive strategy to increase the representation of ethnic minority groups among its employees and senior management; the UK Cultural Diversity Network created by British television companies, which aims to improve diversity in British television; the Canadian Broadcasting Act, which stresses employment practices within the media industry and aims to ensure that the diversity of Canada's population is reflected; the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB), which includes as part of its corporate plan a strategy for future research on minorities in media coverage, as well as promises to conduct surveys to analyse how viewers perceive and experience the presence and portrayal of minorities in the media.