Abolition of Roma discrimination

27.10.2011

Question for oral answer O-000288/2011
to the Council
Rule 115
Lívia Járóka, Simon Busuttil
on behalf of the PPE Group

Notwithstanding the EU Framework for National Roma Integration Strategies launched by the Commission and welcomed by the Council and the issuing by the European Commission of guidelines addressed to Member States for the formulation of the National Roma Integration Strategies (NRIS), discrimination of Roma in the EU is still taking place.

There is a lot to achieve regarding non-discrimination, considering the widespread antigypsism and the insufficient implementation of existing regulations. Roma communities are often segregated in ghetto areas and suffer from extremely low rates of employment, unequal access to health care; in particular, Roma children are subject to low-quality education in the form of segregated education and gypsy-only classrooms, while education is one of the most important tools to avoid poverty.

All European countries – present and future members of the European Union – must engage themselves in a concerted effort to overcome this historic social exclusion of the continent’s largest ethnic minority, and sign up for the EU’s strategy on Roma inclusion.

Can the Council commit itself to taking measures aimed at avoiding discriminatory treatment, while ensuring the implementation of the EU strategy?

How can the Council ensure the development of a complex employment and welfare system, access to lifelong learning for better chances in the labour market and equal treatment and equal opportunities in employment policies and programmes aimed at social inclusion, and how can it guarantee the improvement of Roma participation at local level in planning, executing and monitoring EU funds?

Tabled: 27.10.2011

Forwarded: 28.10.2011

Deadline for reply: 18.11.2011