27/12/2023
FSG Internacional
Spain has presided over the Council of the European Union during the second half of the year 2023. During this time, it has developed initiatives and projects that have a significant impact on the lives of Roma people.
The Spanish Presidency of the Council of the European Union, between July and December 2023, has made progress on priority initiatives and issues to improve the situation of Roma in the areas of housing, education, employment, social economy and participation.
One of the most pressing issues to advance towards equality and inclusion of the Roma community is housing. On this issue, the Spanish Presidency has promoted, through Council Conclusions, equal access of the Roma people to adequate, non-segregated housing, which also addresses the issue of segregated settlements (a structural problem that violates human rights).
These Conclusions are particularly relevant, as they call on Member States to implement measures to address these issues with the necessary funds, and on the European Commission to follow up to ensure that the objectives are met and to support Member States. The recognition of this problem at European level is a major step forward, as it represents support for public initiatives for the eradication of slum and substandard housing settlements in the European Union.
An important point of the approved text is that, for the first time in an EU regulatory framework, a definition of "segregated settlements" is agreed upon, which facilitates the eradication of these settlements with similar parameters in all countries.
The FSG remains confident that the European action plan for the elimination of segregated settlements by 2030, as set out in the European Parliament Resolution of October 2022, will be promoted.
A second issue of great relevance for the equality and inclusion of the Roma community is education. In this area, a Council Recommendation on improving digital skills and competences in education and training has been promoted. This recommendation focuses on Roma people and calls on Member States to articulate the necessary measures to ensure the inclusion of "priority or hard-to-reach groups" in digital skills training initiatives. In defining these priority groups, it indicates that they are disadvantaged or marginalised groups such as, among others, the Roma community.
Related to education, and focusing on school segregation, Fundació Boffill, Fundación Secretariado Gitano and Save the Children, under the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the EU, presented a document of recommendations that urges the European Union to provide itself with specific mechanisms to fight school segregation. The recommendations, supported by the Spanish Ministry of Education and Vocational Training, call on the European Commission and Member States to urgently develop a specific line of work to combat school segregation. The proposals were presented in the framework of the event "Desegregation Policies in the European Union: A Pathway to School Success", held in Brussels on 7 November 2023, which brought together experts, political leaders and representatives of the third sector in a joint will to eradicate segregation in European classrooms and scale up successful experiences at national level.
Focusing on employment, the Spanish Presidency addresses discrimination in all its forms and support for youth employment through a Council Decision on Member States' employment policies. It states that " equal access and opportunities for all should be ensured and poverty and social exclusion, in particular that of children, persons with disabilities and the Roma people should be reduced".
Also in relation to employment, but with a focus on the social economy, a Council Recommendation on the development of framework conditions for the social economy has been published. In this Recommendation, it is recommended to Member States that, in order to better include disadvantaged and under-represented groups (among which the Roma people is mentioned) in the labour market, authorities should provide adequate support to social economy organisations.
Finally, we would like to highlight an important recommendation on the issue of Roma participation, which is relevant in view of the imminent European elections this year. This recommendation calls for the promotion of Roma participation in political life at all levels (local, regional, national and EU), especially in countries with a significant Roma population.
All these issues should have an impact on the unequal situation of Roma people, contributing to the improvement of their lives in all EU countries, including Spain. We hope that the Belgian Presidency, which is currently leading the Council of the European Union until June, will make progress on these and other issues related to Roma equality and inclusion.
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