Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions. Report on the implementation of the EU framework for national Roma integration strategies

The EU Framework for National Roma Integration strategies up to 2020 adopted in April 2011 brought about a change in the approach to Roma inclusion: for the first time a comprehensive and evidence-based framework clearly linked to the Europe 2020 strategy was developed. The EU Framework is for all Member States but needs to be tailored to each national situation.

EU Heads of State and Government endorsed the EU Framework, and consequently, for the first time ever, Member States began to coordinate their efforts to close the gap between Roma and non-Roma in access to education, employment, healthcare and housing. The Commission put in place an annual reporting mechanism to the European Parliament and the Council to assess progress made until 2020.

In parallel, it established structures to accompany Member States in their efforts, in particular the National Roma Contact Points' network where National Roma Contact Points from all 28 Member States meet regularly, as well as the Commission-internal Roma Task Force chaired by Directorate General Justice (with Directorate General Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion as deputy chair) bringing together senior representatives from the Commission's Secretariat General as well as from various Directorates General, including those in charge of regional and urban policy, education and culture, agriculture and rural development, health and consumers, enlargement, home affairs, statistics, budget, communication and the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) to ensure coherence and consistency.

This report measures for the first time progress made in the four key areas of education, employment, healthcare and housing, as well as in the fight against discrimination and the use of funding. It also assesses the progress made at EU level.

EUR-Lex: COM(2014)209: Follow the progress of this communication through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2014:209:FIN

ESO: Background information: Roma integration: EU Framework triggers first results http://www.europeansources.info/record/press-release-roma-integration-eu-framework-triggers-first-results/

EUR-Lex: SWD(2014)121: Commission Staff Working Document accompanying the communication http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=SWD:2014:121:FIN

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