Verbatim report of proceedings

Wednesday, 3 December 2008 - Brussels

The situation of women in the Balkans (short presentation)

  Lívia Járóka (PPE-DE), in writing. – The problems of discrimination that Roma communities face remain unresolved throughout Europe. In both old and new Member States, as well as in candidate countries, integration policies are generally weak, sporadic and administered on a case-by-case basis. Romani women throughout the Balkans face discrimination not only because of their gender, but also on account of the ethnic group to which they belong. Due to their marginalisation from mainstream society, Romani women encounter discrimination which influences their access to healthcare, quality education, housing and employment.

It is extremely important that candidate and potential candidate countries in the Balkans guarantee the elimination of all forms of discrimination and prejudice against Romani women and introduce an effective and practical anti-discrimination strategy to be implemented at all levels (national and local).

It is obvious that the European Union's enlargement process, through the use of its tool the Copenhagen criteria, has the potential to significantly change the situation of the Roma in the Balkans. For this reason it is crucial that the European Commission adopts an effective monitoring system in order to measure the real efforts made in minority and women's rights in the Balkans, which will then demonstrate full compliance with the political criteria for accession.