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sometimes micro-territories, in many cases at greatest risk of poverty and, as a
consequence, tackle the needs of groups at risk of exclusion and discrimination living
in these areas, as it is the case of the Roma.
Î
Î
In general terms
countries combine different approaches to address Roma inclusion
(both within the same OP or in the different OPs)
and target Roma explicitly.
The
only exception to this general trend is Sweden, which opts for not using an explicit
approach (Roma are considered as part of the ‘minorities’ target group).
Î
Î
There are also
differences as regards the hierarchical level at which the interventions
targeting specifically Roma/Roma communities are planned
(from the maximum level
of relevance when defined as a priority axis to a specific objective or an action/type of
intervention). Out of the OPs that include targeted interventions, only the Slovak ESF/
ERDF
Human Resources OP
foresees dedicated priority axes, one under ESF (Priority
Axis 5 ‘Integration of marginalised Roma communities’) and one under ERDF (Priority
Axis 6 ‘Technical facilities in municipalities with presence of marginalised Roma
communities’). The rest of countries foresee dedicated lines of intervention at the level
of specific objectives or actions/types of interventions. The most common trend is to use
specific objectives, whether several ones (Romanian ESF
Human Capital OP
with five)
or one only (Belgian ESF
Flanders OP
, Bulgarian ESF
Human Resources Development
OP
, ESF/ERDF
Science and Education for Smart Growth OP
and ERDF
Regions in
Growth OP
, Czech ESF/ERDF
Research, Development and Education OP
, Italian ESF
Social Inclusion OP
, ESF/ERDF
Metropolitan Cities OP
and ESF/ERDF
Legality OP
,
and Spanish
Social Inclusion and Social Economy OP
). The rest plan Roma inclusion
under actions/types of interventions (Austrian ESF
Employment OP
, Croatian ESF
Efficient Human Resources OP
, Greek ESF
Human Resources Development, Education
and Lifelong Learning OP
, Hungarian ESF/ERDF
Human Resources Development
OP
,
Territorial and Settlement Development OP
, Polish ESF
Knowledge, Education,
Development OP
, Portuguese ESF
Social Inclusion and Employment OP
). Indeed
Roma/Roma communities can also benefit from other priority axes, specific objectives
and actions/types of interventions that are not targeting them specifically (whether they
are mentioned as one of the target groups or not).
Î
Î
Experience shows that there is
no single right or better approach, what is important is
that planning is translated into actions that actually reach Roma/Roma communities.
Particular attention should be paid to those actions that do not target Roma explicitly
to avoid programmes disregarding them. The necessary guarantees should also be
taken as regards the ‘explicit but not exclusive’ approaches, notably when there is a