18/02/2014
FSG Internacional
This event, organised at the highest political level, will be an opportunity to renew political commitments and to strengthen the role of local stakeholders in the inclusion of the Roma population.
On April 4th 2014, the European Commission will bring together high-level representatives from EU institutions, as well as from Member States, with the aim to renew the political commitments of all of them and to ensure that the EU Framework for the National Strategies for Roma Inclusion is moving forward in the right direction and includes the local level, where it can make the difference.
The European Commission believes that the guidelines and the commitments for the inclusion of the Roma population have been incorporated by the Member States, but they have not reached the local level, where actually the implementation of actions and projects that can boost the processes of inclusion takes place. Therefore, this Third European Roma Summit will be devoted to strengthen the role of the local stakeholders in the social inclusion of the Roma population.
The President of the Commission, Durau Barroso, and 5 Commissioners, as well as several Members of the European Parliament have confirmed their attendance. Prime Ministers and Ministers of the Member States have also been invited, which gives an idea of the level of representation and commitment pursued by the Commission. Likewise, representatives of the local level of all EU Member States and enlargement countries, of international organisations and the main civil society organisations at European level will participate.
The European Commission wants to ensure in these moments previous to the European elections that will lead to a renewal during the next months both of the European Parliament as well as of the Commission, that the issue of the inclusion of the Roma population remains on the European political agenda as a priority. In fact, the last European Roma Summit was organised four years ago in Spain (Cordoba), under the Spanish Presidency of the EU Council. The first Roma Summit took place in Brussels in 2008.
Links
ER-0747/2014
