06.04.2014The first evaluation of the European Commission for the implementation of National Roma strategies by the Member States
The Report on the implementation of the EU Framework for national Roma integration strategies was published by the European Commission on the 4th of April and presented on the same day in Brussels during the third European Roma Summit. Тhe report (and its related documents) is essentially the first assessment by the European Commission how Member States of the European Union implement their national strategies for Roma integration adopted in 2011 as a result of the Commission's Communication "EU Framework for National Roma integration strategies" and the subsequent decision of the European Council: is any progress achieved for those 2-3 years and what should follow.
The report, like all similar European documents is tight and short: 10 pages, plus 2 to 3 pages tables synthesized assessments and recommendations for each Member State, united in the so-called. "Commission Staff Working Document". The language used is "Brussels": i.e. diplomatic, it should be read what said and not said. While it is the first evaluation of the Commission on the implementation of national strategies, it is not the first report on them: in 2012 assessment strategies themselves ware published, and in 2013 - the so-called evaluation. "Structural pre-conditions" (i.e., institutional and financial framework) to implement the strategies in each Member State i.e. written in the last report should be interpreted in its relationship with the other two.
The results:
Following the concerted action of the European Commission, Roma integration is already present permanently on the political agenda throughout Europe. The first signs of improvement in the lives of Roma slowly began to emerge, says the report. While still a number of challenges, improvements are clearly visible - a large number of Roma children attend preschool classes, introduces more mentoring programs to help Roma in finding work, as well as programs for the use of mediators in order to bridge the gap between Roma and other communities with regard to housing and access to health care. Thanks to new EU regulations on the use of EU funds in the period 2014 - 2020, Member States must allocate at least 20% from the European Social Fund for Social Inclusion, which includes Roma. The report highlights the achievements at the European level - the EU framework approved by EU leaders in 2011, launched a stable process for coordinating activities related to the integration of Roma. Commission linked the Roma integration with the European concept of inclusive growth of the Europe 2020 Strategy and the regulations on the use of EU funds in the new programming period. At the end of 2013, national ministers unanimously adopted the first-ever legal instrument at EU level, dedicated to Roma inclusion and committed to implement a set of recommendations issued by the Commission, which aims to reduce the social inequality between Roma and the rest of the population in four areas - education, employment, health and housing.
The report also pays attention to the things not achieved by the Member States. In each of the issue areas (education, employment, health, housing, anti-discrimination provision of financial resources) repeats the phrase "Despite the achievements, much more must be done to reach a broader change ... “
Then follow the summarized recommendations in each area. They are detailed for each Member State in the Commission Staff Working Document accompanying the Report. The last part contains the main conclusions and ideas for further development. There is policy recommendations formed and synthesized addressed to Member States, the European Commission (do not forget that soon it will be a new composition!) and to Roma organizations. Member States are required to demonstrate "political will and determination" to continue and expand the integration activities. Member States are required to demonstrate "political will and determination" to continue and expand the integration activities. It also requires effective monitoring of the use of EU funds for Roma integration. The European Commission has clearly stated that it will continue to political pressure (of course, another expression is used - "political leadership") and to provide practical support to Member States, including through EU funds. In particular, the Commission is committed to several precautions:
- annually include recommendations related to Roma in the implementation mechanisms of the Europe 2020 Strategy,
- methodological support for national contact points for the implementation of the national Roma strategies (For Bulgaria this contact point is the Secretariat of the National Council for Cooperation on Ethnic and Integration Issues)
- continuing dialogue with Roma organizations and civil society
- specific assistance at the municipal level,
- developing - together with the Member States - mechanisms for a more targeted use of EU funds for Roma integration.
The last is essentially a new idea which is of great importance: The European Commission will seek targeted funding for integration activities. Moreover - it is stated that at the end of the new programming period will be assessed the effectiveness of the use of EU funds for Roma and in case of need will be offered additional mechanisms specifically targeting Roma. (The last could mean a special fund managed directly from Brussels - something that was mentioned during the summit, following the report. Course, the latter is not explicitly stated in the document itself).
I would like to ask the reader to think of the proverb “Do not shoot the messenger". This is almost verbatim quotations from published reports, that everyone has the right to agree or not. But even skeptical messenger will recognize that in recent years the European level has been achieved visible progress, at least in terms of European commitment - from recurring phrase that Roma integration is a national priority and the European Commission can assist mainly with methodological European funds (leading claims during the first and second European Summit on Roma, held in 2008 and 2010) available today to mechanisms by which the Commission assesses the performance of the integration policy, planning commitment of EU funds to the integration of Roma and even called. "Soft law" (what the recommendations of the European Council of 9 December 2013 are). Cannot be denied that they are "soft mechanisms', but until recently they even seemed unattainable.
The most important news from the report is that the European Commission will not only weaken its impact (or "interaction" if the reader likes more diplomatic language) on national governments to implement the relevant "Roma strategies" but even extend the mechanisms by which this will happen. Of course, all this must be considered with a high degree of conditionality: no one can predict what will be the composition of the European Commission after the elections in May and what will be its line towards the Roma integration. In any case, the objective needs imply a serious European challenge.
Where is Bulgaria in this report:
The name of Bulgaria present in many places in the report. Explicitly (in boxes) are listed three good examples from Bulgaria, where it made from different types of organizations - Ministry of Education, Municipality Kavarna (one of the three municipalities in the EU explicitly stated in the report) and the Center for Interethnic Dialogue and Tolerance AMALIPE (only one more NGO is explicitly included practice in the document). Education in Bulgaria is referred to as a good example - along with Hungary - the introduction of a mandatory two-year preschool education. In the field of provision of financial resources and the use of EU funds are the activities of the Municipality of Kavarna and its merits to improve the lives of local Roma incl. by attracting European funds. Employment as a good example mentioned are the Community Development Centers, established in 11 municipalities by AMALIPE, supported by the European Commission.
Not overlooked things that Bulgaria should do in the near future. Table of Commission Staff Working Document accompanying the Report identifies the following necessary actions:
- Education: support for desegregation and inclusive education at the local level , improving the coverage of Roma children in different forms of quality pre-school education and training , expanding proven successful measures to reduce school drop-out , targeted schemes for the inclusion of Roma young people in different forms of vocational and higher education. One cannot deny that the experts produced these documents that have caught exactly the problems facing educational integration nowadays: slipping of the desegregation process and the gradual increase in secondary segregated "Roma " schools, lack of support from the state to implement a nationwide successful NGO projects, the low number of Roma srrednisti especially graduates, which increases very slowly without the absent present state support;
- Employment: increasing the employment rates of Roma in rural areas, targeted active policies on the labor market to include more Roma, social enterprises , self-employment and use of opportunities for the"Youth Guarantee" initiative. That probably sounds scary for the institutions of the labor market, who generally avoid targeted measures to increase employment in the Roma community. Hoping that the explicit recommendations of the European Commission will encourage these institutions at least to consider;
- Health: this document is adamant that "The main challenge remains the inclusion of all in the health insurance system." Short and clear: it is unacceptable to say that we have a working health system, given between 1 and 2 million Bulgarian citizens (not only Roma) are outside. This problem (even be diplomatically called "challenges") must be urgently resolved;
- Housing: needed in wider action to improve the living conditions that follow an integrated approach (i.e. combined construction of social housing, the promotion of education, employment and health) , similar to the on-going intervention Devnia , Vidin and Dupnitsa . The document rightly recommends the inclusion of Roma and non - Roma in Bulgaria which proved a serious problem: the reader may think of the example of the city of Burgas, who refused to implement such intervention (well-conceived and planned) because of the reaction of ultra-nationalists . Well, that in its report the Commission does not give negative examples - otherwise Burgas case would be one of the leading;
- Anti-discrimination: effective actions against hate speech and discriminatory speech. If anyone doubts that this is necessary - let's read the press in random day;
- Funding: efficient use of EU funds for 2014-20 in support of the integration policy, engaging program for rural development and others. That is important in light of the limited capacity of the state budget. European Commission not only recommends the use of EU funds for Roma integration, but it put this as a condition to the Member States to use EU funds;
- Structural priorities: the document requires political leadership of the Working group to resource Roma integration with EU funds. This group was formed in 2012, chaired by the Minister for EU Funds T. Donchev, but in the autumn of 2013, this same portfolio with the Minister refused her head, passing it to the administration officer - Secretary NCCEII. This practically meaningless of the Working group was noticed by the Commission, which was praised Bulgaria for its creation in the previous report in 2013. It also requires restoring dialogue with Roma civil society. Clear indicator of abusive this dialogue is that just a year ago, leading Roma organizations left the National Council for Cooperation on Ethnic and Integration Issues by making its proposals for changes to this inefficient structure. Rather than discuss these ideas, the management of the structure began to fill the place of those who left with new organizations. This behavior, which can hardly be described as constructive, was clearly seen by the experts of the European Commission.
The report probably will not be liked by many: assessments and its recommendations could be considerably more radical, would insist Roma activists; Commission meddle too much in the affairs of national governments, will comment on the institutions of the Member States. In any case, can not deny the adequacy and accuracy.
The Report on the implementation of the EU Framework for national Roma integration strategies was published by the European Commission on the 4th of April and presented on the same day in Brussels during the third European Roma Summit. Тhe report (and its related documents) is essentially the first assessment by the European Commission how Member States of the European Union implement their national strategies for Roma integration adopted in 2011 as a result of the Commission's Communication "EU Framework for National Roma integration strategies" and the subsequent decision of the European Council: is any progress achieved for those 2-3 years and what should follow.
The report, like all similar European documents is tight and short: 10 pages, plus 2 to 3 pages tables synthesized assessments and recommendations for each Member State, united in the so-called. "Commission Staff Working Document". The language used is "Brussels": i.e. diplomatic, it should be read what said and not said. While it is the first evaluation of the Commission on the implementation of national strategies, it is not the first report on them: in 2012 assessment strategies themselves ware published, and in 2013 - the so-called evaluation. "Structural pre-conditions" (i.e., institutional and financial framework) to implement the strategies in each Member State i.e. written in the last report should be interpreted in its relationship with the other two.
The results:
Following the concerted action of the European Commission, Roma integration is already present permanently on the political agenda throughout Europe. The first signs of improvement in the lives of Roma slowly began to emerge, says the report. While still a number of challenges, improvements are clearly visible - a large number of Roma children attend preschool classes, introduces more mentoring programs to help Roma in finding work, as well as programs for the use of mediators in order to bridge the gap between Roma and other communities with regard to housing and access to health care. Thanks to new EU regulations on the use of EU funds in the period 2014 - 2020, Member States must allocate at least 20% from the European Social Fund for Social Inclusion, which includes Roma. The report highlights the achievements at the European level - the EU framework approved by EU leaders in 2011, launched a stable process for coordinating activities related to the integration of Roma. Commission linked the Roma integration with the European concept of inclusive growth of the Europe 2020 Strategy and the regulations on the use of EU funds in the new programming period. At the end of 2013, national ministers unanimously adopted the first-ever legal instrument at EU level, dedicated to Roma inclusion and committed to implement a set of recommendations issued by the Commission, which aims to reduce the social inequality between Roma and the rest of the population in four areas - education, employment, health and housing.
The report also pays attention to the things not achieved by the Member States. In each of the issue areas (education, employment, health, housing, anti-discrimination provision of financial resources) repeats the phrase "Despite the achievements, much more must be done to reach a broader change ... “
Then follow the summarized recommendations in each area. They are detailed for each Member State in the Commission Staff Working Document accompanying the Report. The last part contains the main conclusions and ideas for further development. There is policy recommendations formed and synthesized addressed to Member States, the European Commission (do not forget that soon it will be a new composition!) and to Roma organizations. Member States are required to demonstrate "political will and determination" to continue and expand the integration activities. Member States are required to demonstrate "political will and determination" to continue and expand the integration activities. It also requires effective monitoring of the use of EU funds for Roma integration. The European Commission has clearly stated that it will continue to political pressure (of course, another expression is used - "political leadership") and to provide practical support to Member States, including through EU funds. In particular, the Commission is committed to several precautions:
- annually include recommendations related to Roma in the implementation mechanisms of the Europe 2020 Strategy,
- methodological support for national contact points for the implementation of the national Roma strategies (For Bulgaria this contact point is the Secretariat of the National Council for Cooperation on Ethnic and Integration Issues)
- continuing dialogue with Roma organizations and civil society
- specific assistance at the municipal level,
- developing - together with the Member States - mechanisms for a more targeted use of EU funds for Roma integration.
The last is essentially a new idea which is of great importance: The European Commission will seek targeted funding for integration activities. Moreover - it is stated that at the end of the new programming period will be assessed the effectiveness of the use of EU funds for Roma and in case of need will be offered additional mechanisms specifically targeting Roma. (The last could mean a special fund managed directly from Brussels - something that was mentioned during the summit, following the report. Course, the latter is not explicitly stated in the document itself).
I would like to ask the reader to think of the proverb “Do not shoot the messenger". This is almost verbatim quotations from published reports, that everyone has the right to agree or not. But even skeptical messenger will recognize that in recent years the European level has been achieved visible progress, at least in terms of European commitment - from recurring phrase that Roma integration is a national priority and the European Commission can assist mainly with methodological European funds (leading claims during the first and second European Summit on Roma, held in 2008 and 2010) available today to mechanisms by which the Commission assesses the performance of the integration policy, planning commitment of EU funds to the integration of Roma and even called. "Soft law" (what the recommendations of the European Council of 9 December 2013 are). Cannot be denied that they are "soft mechanisms', but until recently they even seemed unattainable.
The most important news from the report is that the European Commission will not only weaken its impact (or "interaction" if the reader likes more diplomatic language) on national governments to implement the relevant "Roma strategies" but even extend the mechanisms by which this will happen. Of course, all this must be considered with a high degree of conditionality: no one can predict what will be the composition of the European Commission after the elections in May and what will be its line towards the Roma integration. In any case, the objective needs imply a serious European challenge.
Where is Bulgaria in this report:
The name of Bulgaria present in many places in the report. Explicitly (in boxes) are listed three good examples from Bulgaria, where it made from different types of organizations - Ministry of Education, Municipality Kavarna (one of the three municipalities in the EU explicitly stated in the report) and the Center for Interethnic Dialogue and Tolerance AMALIPE (only one more NGO is explicitly included practice in the document). Education in Bulgaria is referred to as a good example - along with Hungary - the introduction of a mandatory two-year preschool education. In the field of provision of financial resources and the use of EU funds are the activities of the Municipality of Kavarna and its merits to improve the lives of local Roma incl. by attracting European funds. Employment as a good example mentioned are the Community Development Centers, established in 11 municipalities by AMALIPE, supported by the European Commission.
Not overlooked things that Bulgaria should do in the near future. Table of Commission Staff Working Document accompanying the Report identifies the following necessary actions:
- Education: support for desegregation and inclusive education at the local level , improving the coverage of Roma children in different forms of quality pre-school education and training , expanding proven successful measures to reduce school drop-out , targeted schemes for the inclusion of Roma young people in different forms of vocational and higher education. One cannot deny that the experts produced these documents that have caught exactly the problems facing educational integration nowadays: slipping of the desegregation process and the gradual increase in secondary segregated "Roma " schools, lack of support from the state to implement a nationwide successful NGO projects, the low number of Roma srrednisti especially graduates, which increases very slowly without the absent present state support;
- Employment: increasing the employment rates of Roma in rural areas, targeted active policies on the labor market to include more Roma, social enterprises , self-employment and use of opportunities for the"Youth Guarantee" initiative. That probably sounds scary for the institutions of the labor market, who generally avoid targeted measures to increase employment in the Roma community. Hoping that the explicit recommendations of the European Commission will encourage these institutions at least to consider;
- Health: this document is adamant that "The main challenge remains the inclusion of all in the health insurance system." Short and clear: it is unacceptable to say that we have a working health system, given between 1 and 2 million Bulgarian citizens (not only Roma) are outside. This problem (even be diplomatically called "challenges") must be urgently resolved;
- Housing: needed in wider action to improve the living conditions that follow an integrated approach (i.e. combined construction of social housing, the promotion of education, employment and health) , similar to the on-going intervention Devnia , Vidin and Dupnitsa . The document rightly recommends the inclusion of Roma and non - Roma in Bulgaria which proved a serious problem: the reader may think of the example of the city of Burgas, who refused to implement such intervention (well-conceived and planned) because of the reaction of ultra-nationalists . Well, that in its report the Commission does not give negative examples - otherwise Burgas case would be one of the leading;
- Anti-discrimination: effective actions against hate speech and discriminatory speech. If anyone doubts that this is necessary - let's read the press in random day;
- Funding: efficient use of EU funds for 2014-20 in support of the integration policy, engaging program for rural development and others. That is important in light of the limited capacity of the state budget. European Commission not only recommends the use of EU funds for Roma integration, but it put this as a condition to the Member States to use EU funds;
- Structural priorities: the document requires political leadership of the Working group to resource Roma integration with EU funds. This group was formed in 2012, chaired by the Minister for EU Funds T. Donchev, but in the autumn of 2013, this same portfolio with the Minister refused her head, passing it to the administration officer - Secretary NCCEII. This practically meaningless of the Working group was noticed by the Commission, which was praised Bulgaria for its creation in the previous report in 2013. It also requires restoring dialogue with Roma civil society. Clear indicator of abusive this dialogue is that just a year ago, leading Roma organizations left the National Council for Cooperation on Ethnic and Integration Issues by making its proposals for changes to this inefficient structure. Rather than discuss these ideas, the management of the structure began to fill the place of those who left with new organizations. This behavior, which can hardly be described as constructive, was clearly seen by the experts of the European Commission.
The report probably will not be liked by many: assessments and its recommendations could be considerably more radical, would insist Roma activists; Commission meddle too much in the affairs of national governments, will comment on the institutions of the Member States. In any case, can not deny the adequacy and accuracy.
