Statement: EU Member States must guarantee equal rights to the Roma

Statement by the co-presidents, Satu Haapanen and Bernd Voß

The new strategy of the European Union on equality and inclusion of the Roma people was discussed during the 142nd CoR Plenary session.

We, as the co-presidents of the Greens, want to emphasise that people with Romani background have been living in Europe for more than 700 hundred years. Nonetheless, they still face unequal treatment in many European countries and regions and face poverty and problems due to structural and direct discrimination. It is high time and extremely urgent to correct the inequalities people with Romani background face in their everyday life. This discrimination has a harmful impact on several areas including education, where only the 18% of Roma transit towards higher education, and employment, where the employment rates of Roma are about 40% in most Member States.

We call for all EU Member States to guarantee equal rights to the Roma. This has to be done in a dialogue and co-operation between communities. Mutual respect and trust are prerequisites to finding solutions to the problems the Roma face as a minority. States need to be committed to formulating and implementing national strategies together with the active participation of the Roma. The Roma themselves must have ownership of the decisions that affect them. They must be part of the negotiation and decision-making processes of each Member State and the EU as a whole.

Binding policies are needed that include the allocation of adequate budgets for the national strategies’ implementation. Active measures are needed to make the school system safe and receptive for Roma children, and active labour market policies are needed to improve the employment situation of Roma. Structural and targeted measures are needed to eradicate poverty. Furthermore, it is very important to support and revive the Roma language as each citizen of Europe has the right to speak and express themselves in their own language.​