Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-04-05-Speech-2-363-000"
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"en.20110405.18.2-363-000"2
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"Mr President, Honourable Members, the socio-economic situation of Roma is at the top of the EU agenda. Last month this House adopted the Járóka Report on an EU strategy on Roma inclusion. And today, the Commission adopted a Communication on an EU Framework for national Roma integration strategies.
Access to healthcare: reducing the gap in health between Roma and non-Roma. Member States should provide access to quality healthcare under the same conditions as for the rest of the population.
Access to housing and essential services: where the situation of the Roma people is indeed much worse than that of the rest of the population, for example where access to water, electricity and other services are concerned.
The lack of an integrated approach has a negative impact on the overall integration of Roma people in society and leaves them in poverty.
Thirdly, the Union must put its money where its mouth is. The Commission is currently drawing up a proposal for the multi-annual financial framework, which will be followed by specific proposals on the Structural Funds. To my mind, the Structural Funds need to be brought into line with the Europe 2020 Strategy. This applies to the policy areas for which I am responsible in general – employment and social inclusion – and it certainly applies to the socio-economic integration of Roma. Making our financial instruments more effective is a key objective for me.
Let me stop at this point, so I can listen to your views and answer any questions.
Both documents make significant contributions to the wider debate on Roma, and will feed into the conclusions to be adopted at the next Council meeting of Employment and Social Affairs Ministers on 19 May, which will be exclusively devoted to the integration of Roma.
Those documents articulate the EU’s political determination to address the situation of millions of Roma who are suffering from economic and social exclusion. I would like to make three key points here.
Firstly, the Commission has set out an EU framework for national Roma integration strategies. It acknowledges the Member States’ prime responsibility for designing and implementing Roma integration strategies. It also reaffirms the Commission’s deep conviction that the European Union cannot tolerate any form of racism, xenophobia, discrimination or social exclusion of Roma. The Union has a moral and political obligation to support the Member States in their efforts with all the policies and instruments at its disposal.
Secondly, as you know, the Union has agreed on a comprehensive strategy for developing the European economic and social model in a balanced way. The Europe 2020 Strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth is the right policy context for addressing the multifaceted problems facing Roma. We must harness Europe 2020’s objectives, targets, flagship initiatives and reporting structures for the cause of the Roma.
The key message is that excluding millions of EU citizens from economic and social life is not smart, is not sustainable and is certainly not inclusive. In short, there is no excuse for Roma exclusion to continue in the Europe we want to live in.
In particular, the Europe 2020 headline targets for employment, poverty reduction and education are key benchmarks for measuring progress in Roma integration policies. The Commission’s Communication on Roma identifies four areas that are of strategic importance to overcome Roma exclusion. These are as follows.
Access to employment: the big gap between Roma and non-Roma employment rates has to be addressed. We will not achieve our Europe 2020 targets if we do not do it.
Access to education: all Roma children should have access to quality education and not face discrimination or segregation. As a minimum, all Roma children should complete primary school."@en1
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