Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions. Steps forward in implementing national Roma integration strategies

The Commission's Communication 'An EU Framework for National Roma Integration Strategies' called on Member States to adopt or further develop a comprehensive approach to Roma integration and endorse a number of common goals. These goals cover the four pillars of education, employment, health and housing and aim to speed up the integration of Roma. The Heads of State or Government of all EU Member States endorsed this approach.

In response to this call, the Member States presented national Roma integration strategies. The national strategies varied according to the size of the Roma population and the challenges Member States needed to address. The European Commission assessed these strategies in 2012 and concluded that, to make progress on the four pillars, it was necessary to prioritise on several structural pre-conditions that are indispensable for a successful implementation of the strategies, and amongst them: working with local and regional authorities and civil society; allocating proportionate financial resources; monitoring and enabling policy adjustment; fighting discrimination convincingly; and establishing national contact points for Roma integration.

The present communication focuses on these structural pre-conditions as, although some steps have been taken at policy level in the Member States, in particular to better coordinate all stakeholders active on Roma integration, effective changes are still insufficient. Furthermore, to encourage further efforts by the Member States, the Commission commits, with this communication, to provide additional support to the Member States notably on their use of EU funds for Roma integration.

EUR-Lex: COM(2013)454: Follow the progress of this communication through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2013:454:FIN

ESO: Background information: Roma: Commission calls on Member States to step up efforts on integration http://www.europeansources.info/record/press-release-roma-commission-calls-on-member-states-to-step-up-efforts-on-integration/

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