European Roma Information Office: Recommendations to the Latvian EU Presidency
The European Roma Information Office (ERIO) welcomes the Presidency of the Council of the European Union taken over by Latvia between January and June 2015. ERIO, as an international advocacy organisation working to combat racist discrimination against Roma, would like to take this opportunity to urge the Latvian Presidency to prioritise the following issues during its Presidency:
1. Ensure Roma participation
ERIO is pleased to see that one of the priorities of the Presidency is involvement. ERIO urges the Presidency to focus efforts on the need to promote and ensure access to full participation of Roma, including women, at all levels of decision and policy making processes at local, national and European levels. This will support the aims of the 2013 Council Recommendation on effective Roma integration measures in the member states (point 2.8) which states that the active citizenship of Roma should be supported together with their social, economic, political and cultural participation in society. Participation of Roma should specifically be guaranteed in the implementation of the National Roma Integration Strategies (NRIS) in order to ensure its effectiveness. Capacity building of Roma civil society should also be promoted as a way to empower Roma to become fully engaged in securing the effective implementation of the NRIS, anti-discrimination and social exclusion policies at the national and local levels. Training should improve the advocacy skills of Roma, ensure they are more active with local authorities and include information on EU funding, project management and EU anti-discrimination legislation.
2. Increase effectiveness of the Europe 2020 Strategy
ERIO welcomes the Presidency’s commitment to achieve the Europe 2020 Strategy targets. The efficiency of the Strategy and the achievement of its social targets are increased if its implementation is complemented with the NRIS. A smooth implementation of the EU 2020 Strategy should include a balanced level of a social and economic dimension.
3. Increase Roma children’s access to early childhood education
ERIO welcomes the Presidency’s focus on early childhood education. Roma children continue to be in a disadvantaged position in education systems across the EU due to discrimination and poverty. Inequality starts early in life. Early childhood interventions are crucial to success in primary and secondary education. We ask the Presidency to pressure member states to ensure that all children have access to preschool by adding facilities and classes as necessary to accommodate them all, and by eliminating or subsidising the school fees and transportation costs that exclude disadvantaged children.
