The current level of ambition is insufficient to guarantee the achievement of the minimum progress set by the EU 2030 targets in the national Roma strategic frameworks, according to the European Commission's report last September on the implementation of the national Roma strategic frameworks.
In October 2020, the Commission strengthened its commitment to Roma living in the EU by adopting a new EU Roma Strategic Framework for equality, inclusion and participation. The 10-year plan aims at improving the living conditions for Roma in the EU and support their integration in society.
The strategic framework was complemented in March 2021 by a Council Recommendation through which the Member States committed to adopt and implement national Roma strategic frameworks. Member States should report to the Commission about progress every two years, starting from 2023, as input to the biennial Commission’ own biennial reporting.
Halfway-through the gaps have hardly been reduced, particular in the area of employment, according to two new reports that were presented at the recent annual policy conference in Brussels by the European Roma Grassroots Organisations Network (ERGO), an umbrella organisation of NGOs from 32 countries representing Roma communities across Europe.
The conference in 2024 focused on how to improve access to decent and sustainable employment and combatting antigypsism when implementing the EU and National Roma Strategic Frameworks. Other persistent problems in some EU Member States are segregation in schools and forced evictions in housing without adequate alternatives.
Employment gap
The EU framework sets out EU-level objectives and quantitative targets to be met by 2030. As regards employment, the EU report, based on a stock-taking in January 2023, shows wide gaps between the general population and Roma, said Atanas Stoyanov, policy officer at the Commission’s Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers.
The objective is that at least 60 % of Roma should have paid work by 2030 – the current figure is only 43 % compared to 73 % among the rest of the population. The gender employment gap is also much wider among Roma.
As regards youth (aged 16 – 24), the objective is to ensure that less than one third of Roma youth is not in education, employment or training (the NEET rate). There the gap is 52 percentage points, with a NEET rate of 62 % among Roma compared to 10 % among the general population.
The Commission report last September identified antigypsim as the root cause of Roma exclusion and discriminiation. This was also confirmed in the 2023 Eurobarometer on Discrimination in the EU23. 65% of EU citizens consider that discrimination against Roma is widespread in their countries, compared with 61% in 2019.
Another survey in 2021 by the EU Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) showed that Roma respondents feel discriminated when applying for a job. The EU average figure has doubled since 2016, from 16 % to 33 %, with high figures in some Member States. The upcoming FRA Roma survey, to be released in 2025, will be instrumental in measuring progress, according to the Commission.
Structural barriers
ERGO’s research report on “Roma access to decent and sustainable employment”, is based on six in-depth national case studies carried out in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, and Spain, countries with the highest proportion of Roma. ERGO Network members in Ireland provided additional benchmarking evidence.
Roma people are more likely to experience discrimination in recruitment and in the workplace, to be paid less, to be offered precarious contracts, and to be overlooked for promotions or training. Pushed at the margins of the labour market and underrepresented in trade unions, many Roma earn their livelihood from atypical, seasonal, or informal work.
Furthermore, these jobs are not covered by adequate labour protection legislation and do not provide for employment rights and social security. Job creation efforts are not enough to provide the Roma with quality and secure jobs, and the great potential of social entrepreneurship is insufficiently supported.
On a positive note, Oliver Mako, at the WASCO Roma social enterprise in Slovakia, described a promising business project which is employing Roma. The projects offers laundry services and employs mainly women. WASCO acquired its building in a desolate condition and self-renovated it. Equipment and machinery were purchased through a loan. The salaries of disadvantaged employees are subsidized through active labour market policy measures.
What about jobs in the public sector and affirmative action? Paola Panzeri, Deputy General Secretary at the European Public Service Unions (EPSU), replied that the public sector could serve as an equalizer in the labour market but doubted that it would offer Roma access to it in times of austerity, when the sector is shrinking and public agencies are not hiring new people.
Currently the percentage of Roma employed in the public sector is insignificant, even when counting low-status jobs in cleaning and waste treatment. The structural barriers in the form of insufficient public transport and health service are obstacles for getting access to the labour market.
Pervasive antigypsism
To this should be added pervasive antigypsism and discrimination in recruitment and the work place, according to a survey by ERGO based on responses from civil society organisations. Less than half of the countries in the survey have specific actions plans to address antigypsism. Few respondents reported any progress in addressing hate speech against Roma.
Participants in the conference witnessed that people applying for jobs or looking for housing are frequently asked if they are Roma. This happens in both new Member States in central-eastern Europe and in Member States in the south and north.
In for example Sweden, jobseekers have to hid their identity if they are of Roma origin to get a job, a participant told The Brussels Times. A Roma activist from Italy told the conference that her son, an economist, would lose his job if he dared to tell his co-workers that he is Roma. In Spain, Roma do not dare to complain about discrimination because of weak anti-discrimination legislation.
The reports recommend stronger anti-discrimination legislation, coupled with effective implementation mechanisms and monitoring, anti-bias training for employers and recruiters, and broad campaigns in society at large. Public employment services should also do more to promote Roma access to the labour market.
EU figures
The EU offers funding from the European Social Fund in support of marginalized communities, including Roma. A total of € 2, 25 billion (EU and national funding) is allocated to 15 Member States in 2021 – 2027. That does not imply that other Member States are not affected by antigypsism but they probably use only national funding for anti-racism projects.
Contrary to previous enlargement rounds, Roma integration is one of the conditions candidate countries have to fulfil to join the EU. In principle, candidate countries are expected to develop national Roma strategic frameworks.
According to Isak Skenderi, at the Voice of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptians (VORAE) in Kosovo, the Western Balkans countries lack robust monitoring and implementation of their Roma strategies. They are not mandatory and reflect at best policy aspirations without sufficient funding and accountability for non-implementation.
With an estimated 10-12 million Roma in Europe, Roma are Europe’s largest ethnic minority. Official data show that there is around 275,000 Roma in the six Western Balkans countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Serbia), and around 700,000 in Turkey but average estimates based on unofficial sources show much higher figures.
The EU Roma Strategic Framework also highlights the importance of promoting Rom empowerment and encourages their participation in political life at local, regional and EU levels. However, no targets were set for their representation.
The 2024 European Elections have been hailed as a successful exercise in democracy with a record voter turnout but for the Roma the election results were a disappointment. While the previous European Parliament included four members of Roma origin, the new Parliament does not include any Roma MEP, according to the Brussels based Roma Foundation for Europe.
Political representation
In Romania, with an estimated Roma population of 1.5–2 million, hardly any progress has been made in empowering Roma since the country joined the EU in 2007. The planned parliamentary elections in beginning of December were cancelled after the first round, which saw a pro-Putin far-right candidate emerge as the frontrunner.
Romania’s constitution allows minority groups 'public utility status', guaranteeing them parliamentary representation and funding. “However, this framework has created a de facto monopoly, with the Association Partida Romilor Pro Europa (APRPE) holding the single Roma seat for years," Zeljko Jovanovic, President of the Roma Foundation for Europe, told The Brussels Times.
This excludes other Roma voices and fosters an oligarchic hold on public institutions meant to serve Roma interests. In practice, the seat is won with only about 15,000 votes or 0.25% of the total votes. “Our member organization, Roma for Democracy Romania, is challenging this system to ensure broader political representation.”
Are there any Roma candidates on the lists of the different parties in Romania? “A few Roma candidates appeared on various party lists in the recent parliamentary elections, but the only successful one was Nicolae Păun of APRPE, who has held the guaranteed minority seat for years. His dominance, bolstered by APRPE’s 'public utility status', has stifled competing Roma voices.”
“The de-facto monopoly of APRPE, coupled with its close ties to major political parties, limits Roma political diversity and prioritizes political alliances over addressing systemic issues like discrimination and poverty, and lack of access to education and healthcare,” Zeljko Jovanovic added.
Update: A previous version of the article has been updated on political representation.
M. Apelblat
The Brussels Times
