Fundación Secretariado Gitano

EURoma Network European event on Roma people and ESF+/ERDF regional programming [editar]

• International

On 27 April, the EURoma Network (European Network on Roma Inclusion under European Structural and Investment Funds) organised an online European event with the aim of promoting the consideration of Roma inclusion, equality and non-discrimination within the regional programmes, as well as within those national programmes with a regional dimension, of the Social Fund Plus (ESF+) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), which are currently being prepared for the period 2021-2027.

The event gathered more than 120 participants, mainly representatives of regional public authorities (those involved in the programming of ESF+/ERDF regional programmes, those responsible of the policies related to Roma inclusion, equality and non-discrimination, as well as other relevant public authorities). National authorities, including EURoma Network partners (i.e. national public authorities in charge of European Cohesion Policy Funds and those responsible of the Roma inclusion policies), also participated, mainly from countries in which the regional programming is relevant. As in the case of the different initiatives of the EURoma Network, it was also attended by representatives of the European Commission, specifically from the Directorates-General in charge of policies aimed at the Roma population and the ESF/ESF+ and ERDF.

The event addressed one of the main challenges of the 2014-2020 programming period: to ensure that measures related to Roma equality, inclusion and non-discrimination are programmed beyond the national level. In the previous period, these measures were mainly managed at national level, though national Operational Programmes; only a few countries programmed measures (also) at regional level. As a result, the potential of these funds to adapt to the specificities of the different regions and address their challenges was not fully used.

Specifically, the event aimed, through the exchange of ideas and experiences, to:

• Explore the possibility to promote the programming of measures targeting the Roma population in the context of the Specific Objectives related to the socio-economic inclusion of marginalised communities and disadvantaged groups, including Roma, notably ESF+ (j) and ERDF 4(iii).
• Consider the options to foster the consideration of Roma inclusion, equality and non-discrimination within other ESF+/ERDF Specific Objectives, whether through target of mainstream approaches.
• Encourage the consideration of elements that have proven to be essential for measures to be effective and have a real impact such as the explicit mention, the length (long) and scale of the initiatives, the combination of target and mainstream approaches, the connection with the policy framework, the complementarity of funds, … .

To this end, the event built upon:

• The Checklist for the Effective Inclusion of Roma Interventions within European Cohesion Policy Funds programming 2021-2027 elaborated by EURoma Network, which aims to provide guidance to authorities involved in the programming of the European Cohesion Policy Funds on how to translate these goals into practice.
• The experiences from different actors involved at regional level.

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