WG – Human Rights – Roma Minority in Europe

Cluj-Napoca, Romania 30 September

ROMA MINORITY IN EUROPE PRESENTED BY PWG HR

The Roma are Europe’s largest ethnic minority group with an estimated population of 6 million persons living in the union. This is a group that has historically been persecuted and disadvantaged, and today still experiences lower standards of living as well as discrimination.

In 2016, data was collected from approximately 34 000 members of the Roma population in Europe in the FRA (European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights) minority survey for Europe.

The survey was carried out in nine European countries, and targeted different measures of living standards; including education, employment, housing and health. The findings of the survey show that there are considerable differences between the average European population and the Roma population. The first difference is the rate of Roma unemployment, which is considerably higher than the overall average of the European population. Large unemployment in this group is common, with the overall Roma household unemployment ranging from 17 percent to 62 percent. 41 percent of the Roma surveyed in the FRA survey felt discriminated against due to their ethnicity.

The Roma also show a significantly lower portion of attendance in schooling and completion of post-secondary education than the average European population, with survey results showing that 48 percent of Roma aged between 6 and 24 not having received any education at all.

The low level of employment and school attendance amongst the 6 million Roma in Europe does leave an impact on the EU, both in the societal and economical aspects. These effects are exacerbated as large amounts of Roma move from their country of origin to other European countries, where they often remain unemployed and begging in the streets of countries such as Sweden, which was estimated to house around 4700 beggars in the fall of 2015.

The survey results do, however, show large differences between the 9 studied countries, where some show a successful integration of the Roma, with very little differences between the Roma and the average population. The success of Roma integration in some EU states means that an overall successful integration of the Roma minority is possible throughout Europe. Cooperation and knowledge sharing between EU countries therefore can help to alleviate the problems faced by the Roma throughout Europe. The role of the EU should therefore be to ensure the exchange and sharing of knowledge pertaining to methods which can lessen the unemployment of the Roma population.

Ensuring that Roma employment and market access are improved will generate millions into the economy while simultaneously increasing the freedoms and living standards of the Roma.

We, the European Democrat Students (EDS), the official student organization of the European People’s Party (EPP): • Acknowledge the Roma population’s rights as equal to those of the rest of the EU population.

• Acknowledge the need for increased efforts from the member states and the EU towards increasing employment and school attendance amongst the Roma population.

• Acknowledge the importance of education and school participation for the younger Roma population as an important integration measure.

• Acknowledge that member states experienced with large Roma populations are vital in facilitating future EU cooperation with the goal of better integrating the Roma throughout Europe.

Call upon the European Union and the European Commission: • Ensure that the Roma population’s human rights are being respected and secured.

• Facilitate biannual minister-level meetings between member states governments regarding the situation of the Roma throughout Europe.

• Follow-up member states on their Roma population integration work and ensure the proper management of the specifically directed and allocated EU funds for Roma population integration work.

• Cut the specifically directed and allocated EU funds for Roma integration to the member states that are not successful in their Roma population integration work.