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Introduction
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Introduction
The ‘European Network on Social Inclusion and Roma under the Structural Funds’
(EURoma Network) is an initiative launched in 2007 by the Spanish Government (Spanish
European Social Fund (ESF) Managing Authority) in cooperation with the Fundación
Secretariado Gitano (FSG), which has led the Technical Secretariat.
The Network aims to promote the use of Structural Funds for the inclusion of the Roma
population and as a result enhancing the effectiveness of policies targeting the Roma
community. To this end, it gathers, under the leadership of the Spanish ESF Managing
Authority, Managing Authorities (or delegated Intermediate Bodies/ Implementing
Authorities) and National Roma Contact Points from fifteen Member States: Austria,
Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Poland,
Portugal, Romania, Spain, Slovakia and Sweden.
EURoma was created in the context of the 2007-2013 Structural Funds programming
period, which increased the scope of transnational cooperation between public authorities
and civil society actors, and in light of:
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The need to guarantee the fundamental rights of the Roma population;
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The enlargement of the European Union through the incorporation of the countries
with the highest concentration of Roma populations;
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The fact that Structural Funds, and particularly the ESF, were identified as the main
financial instruments for the implementation, by Member States, of policies fostering
social inclusion, cohesion and employment opportunities;
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The limited impact of the Structural Funds on Roma (e.g. scarce knowledge on how
to address Roma inclusion in the Operational Programmes and how to actually reach
Roma in the implementation);
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The Spanish experience of effectively using the ESF for the inclusion of the Roma.