The report focuses on the areas identified in the Commission’s initial stock-taking as requiring further improvement and monitoring, while also briefly addressing other sectoral areas and the use of funds. EURoma Network is mentioned as a tool to promote the engagement and cooperation between NRCPs and the authorities managing EU Funds to support Roma equality and inclusion.
The European Commission has recently published the ‘Report on the implementation of the national Roma strategic frameworks in light of the EU Roma strategic framework for equality, inclusion and participation and the Council Recommendation on Roma equality, inclusion and participation’. This report assesses the implementation of national Roma frameworks and their suitability for achieving progress towards the 2030 targets, covering the period between the adoption of the new national Roma frameworks in 2021/2022 and June 2023.
Based on a previous assessment by the Commission, it focuses on the areas identified:
- the functioning of the national Roma contact points (NRCPs);
- fighting and preventing antigypsyism;
- eliminating segregation in education and housing;
- setting targets and indicators;
- mainstreaming Roma inclusion; and
- enhancing the participation of Roma.
It briefly addresses other sectoral areas and the use of funds.
It reflects the situation until June 2023, including all improvements of – and amendments to – the national Roma frameworks. Future reports will capture progress on implementation of the whole scope of the EU Roma strategic framework and the Council Recommendation.
The report concludes that Member States and enlargement countries have started to put in place the necessary structures and processes for the effective implementation of their NRSFs. They have developed and started implementing new programmes and actions in line with the guidance provided by the Commission in its 2023 stock-taking. We witness positive aspects: several Member States have strengthened the role of their NRCPs; there are some positive developments in fighting and preventing antigypsyism at the national level; a number of Member States are prioritising inclusive education and Roma participation.
However, based on the information provided by Member States in this first round of reporting, the current level of ambition is still insufficient to guarantee the achievement of the minimum progress set by the EU 2030 targets. To achieve the positive change envisaged by the EU Roma strategic framework, more efforts
are needed. The report identifies areas for further improvement in each of the fields covered.
Functioning of National Roma Contact Points
The report devotes a chapter to the progress as regards the functioning of the NRCPs. In the previous European Commission’s report, Member States, in particular those with significant Roma populations, were asked to ensure that their NRCPs are involved in the design of social inclusion policies and universal services, including, where relevant, in decision-making on the programming and monitoring of EU funds. In its 2023 assessment, the Commission highlighted that, overall, Member States had not strengthened their NRCPs sufficiently in the areas of funding and staffing.
In the current Commisison’s assessment, the European Commission recognises that, over the reporting period, several Member States (15) have strengthened the role of their NRCPs in different ways, e.g. by expanding their staffing, increasing the allocated budget, reconfiguring their institutional set-up; establishing the role of Commissioner for Roma affairs; creating a monitoring committee for strategic framework implementation; developing links with Roma communities and fostering dialogue with Roma CSOs; and contracting technical support for implementation and monitoring. In addition, the NRCPs in 12 Member States participate as full members in monitoring committees for EU co-funded programmes.
However, it is identified that NRCPs still require additional support, resources and capacity to carry their role effectively. In this sense, the report calls on Member States to:
- ensure an appropriate institutional mandate – and sufficient staff and financial resources –for their NRCPs and strengthen NRCPs’ capacities for: (i) cross-sectoral coordination; (ii) mainstreaming and monitoring; and (iii) engagement with regional and local authorities and stakeholders;
- further strengthen the NRCPs’ role in decision-making, the design of calls for proposals and the implementation of EU-funded programmes.
EU FUNDING
While the report does not include a deep analysis on the use of funds, it does make some references to it (both in a separate section as well as when referering to some of the priority areas reviewed. It is recalled that the EU Roma strategic framework and the Council Recommendation invite Member States to: (i) make more ambitious and concrete commitments for the use of national and EU funding for Roma equality; and (ii) make full use of the funding available under the EU’s 2021-2027 multiannual financial framework and NextGenerationEU.
The assessment indicates that, ensuring the complementarity of different funds, Member States with significant Roma populations (BG, CZ, EL, ES, HU, RO, SK) have allocated or earmarked a combination of funds to implement their national Roma frameworks. This is also the case of other EU Member States. However, there is still room for progress. In this sense, the Commission encourages Member States to:
- Make effective use of available EU funds through a multi-dimensional integrated approach, particularly via ESF+ allocations in Member States to support socio-economic integration of marginalised Roma, ERDF as well as the Recovery and Resilience Facility. This should combine investments in employment, healthcare, desegregated quality education and housing, together with efforts to reinforce administrative capacity at the local level, including capacity building for local authorities and grassroots civil society
organisations. The opportunity of the mid-term review of cohesion policy funds should be leveraged for this purpose, where applicable; - Make use of existing technical support through Technical Support Initiative (TSI) to further strengthen the capacity of central and local authorities, address challenges and priority areas identified in the EU and national strategic frameworks, and bridge existing implementation gaps;
- Identify, implement and share promising practices for potential replication as appropriate for national, regional and local contexts and facilitate more direct ways to provide assistance and capacity building
to grassroot CSOs, municipalities and other local stakeholders.
The Commission also makes a specific reference to the use of EU Funds to address the key challenge of segregation in education and housing. EU funds provide significant support to Member states to tackle segregation. Under cohesion policy, prevention of any discrimination based on, inter alia, racial or ethnic origin, and the respect for fundamental rights and compliance with the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union are horizontal principles for the preparation and implementation of programmes. Member States are also required to put in place relevant strategic frameworks, including measures to prevent and combat segregation, as a precondition for investments. (see enabling conditions on education, on social inclusion and poverty reduction and on Roma inclusion strategic policy frameworks).
Over the reporting period, 14 Member States have developed specific measures to tackle spatial segregation, Of these 14 Member States, nine use EU funds for this purpose. Attention to this issue is demonstrated by recent Council Conclusions of the Spanish EU Presidency recommending that Member States make the best use of available financial tools and ensure the complementarity of these tools with EU funds to improve the housing situation of Roma and end housing segregation. This was also the theme of the 16th European Platform for Roma Inclusion in November 2023.
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