A mixed record on promoting social inclusion.
During its term in office, the outgoing European Commission committed itself to the social inclusion of Roma (“One year on, what has changed?”, 1-7 October, and “Supporting Roma inclusion”, 8-14 October). Commission President José Manuel Barroso has repeatedly restated this commitment.
In itself, this is progress. Still, our evaluation of Barroso I’s record is mixed at best. European and Commission officials have only half-heartedly addressed the rise in violence against Roma over the past year; and the Commission has been slow to take up recommendations for more effective
socio-economic policies.
Barroso needs to present concrete plans for his second mandate and to actively pursue the transition from rhetoric to effective actions, mechanisms and policies.
His pledge to create a portfolio for fundamental rights is welcome. Much rests on the strength of the commissioner and his or her mandate, but the post has the potential to fill the gap between socio-economic instruments and a much-needed rights-based approach to Roma inclusion, which now inhibits real progress.
There are some other things that need to be done. First, speed up decision-making and learn from past mistakes. The Commission emphasises the contribution structural funding can make. We do not necessarily disagree, but the Commission needs to take a more stringent approach when monitoring how member states spend the money they receive. Too many of the reported results are only on paper and too much funding goes into schemes or seminars with limited impact.
Second, the Commission needs to see its contribution to Roma inclusion in a strategic, long-term and coherent framework. It currently lacks an effective internal mechanism to co-ordinate Roma issues in different policy areas. The Commission needs to commit institutional resources to the challenge: there are simply not enough people working on Roma issues to generate the political energy necessary to drive the process forward. It remains a serious obstacle that, despite employing around 25,000 people, not a single Commission official is, to our knowledge, of Roma origin.
Thirdly, investment in Roma human resources needs to be recognised as a priority. For Roma to be passive consumers of policies, unable to speak out for themselves, is of no help to anybody. Recommending ‘incentive measures’ is not enough; the Commission needs to provide institutional support for independent organisations.
Finally, the Commission could use available knowledge and experience better. The ‘Roma Platform’ is intended to harness the knowledge of non-governmental organisations active in this field. But after two meetings of the Platform, and despite assertions from Commission officials – in this newspaper – that the Platform is a success, we remain unconvinced that it
offers meaningful civil society participation. Presence yes, but participation? No.
We sense an eagerness from Commission officials to enter into a genuine partnership, but this is not possible within a Platform that is, as the Commission puts it, a “mechanism of governance” and “not a body, but rather a process”.
We know that Roma issues cannot be tackled by the Commission alone. We are not asking it to do an institutional salto mortale. But the Commission’s responsibility exceeds merely assisting member states to execute their national plans for Roma inclusion. Barroso needs to take bolder steps.
Lili Makaveeva
Chairwoman
Ruus Dijksterhuis
Treasurer
European Roma Grassroots Organisation
Brussels
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