Conclusions

AuthorKorver, Ron
Pages1-2
Framew ork for Nati onal Roma Inte gration Strategies u p to 2020
I
Conclusions
This study provides a synthesis of evaluations and opinions of the EU Framework for national Roma
integration strategies (NRIS) up to 2020. It describes the fra mework as such, as well as t he main
policy areas t hat it targets, na mely (Roma access to) educatio n, employment, health, hou sing, as
well as anti-discrimin atio n and anti-gy psyi sm.
The EU Framework for NR IS is an evolving instr u ment . Considered by many an achievement in its e lf,
its establishment was a turning point for Roma communities in Europe. It put the social integration
of people with a Romani background high on the European policy agenda and put pressure on
Member Stat es to develop r elevant national strategies.
Nonetheless , the framewor k is often criticised for its non-bin ding ch ara cter. As a soft policy t ool, it
pro vides a reference point for po licy coordina tion, co nsultation a nd monitorin g, an d t ar ge t ed po licy
recommendations for national Roma integration strategies. It is then up to n ati ona l, re gio nal and
local gover nments to decide if and how they translate the recommendations into administrative
capacities and specific policy actions .
Natio nal Ro ma in tegration s trategies (NR IS) are often associated with the crea tion of d ocu ments and
structures at EU level, rather t han with the develo pment of new policies, the i mple ment ati on of
actions and the monitoring of their results, as these depend on the political priorities of the
respective national line ministries rather than on Roma-specif ic str ategies.1
Despite diverse public administration models and degrees of decentralisation, the actual
implem enta tion o f both the NRIS and the national Rom a integr ation policies is often mo r e s t rong ly
dependent on the political will and priorities of local government leadership than on tho se of the
national leadership.
The NRIS are usually not part of the agendas of the EU Member States' national parliaments, a
cons equen ce being that executives are not su fficiently accountable t o these parliaments as r e gards
the NRIS and report on t hem directly to the Eur op ean Commission .
'Explicit but not exclusive targeting' of the Roma is considered essen tial for inclusio n policy
initiatives addressed a t them2. This implie s focu sing o n the Roma as a target group, but not on the
exclusion of other people who share similar socio-economic cir cums tan ces with them. Th is
approach does not separate Roma-focused inter vention s from broader po licy initiativ es. However,
it als o engenders the risk th at Member Sta tes in which a genuin e polit ical will is abse nt an d res ults
are n ot suf ficiently m onitored wo uld implement action s that have no a ctu al impact on t he Roma
comm unit ies, yet justify the use of funding under the NRIS commitments.
Furthermore, Member States with big Roma populations larg ely rely on EU funding to i mpl ement
their NRIS, yet d o not p ublicly decla re what portion of th eir national budgets is allo cated for NRIS
implem enta tion . In this context, it is diff icult to mon itor the extent of t heir commitment.
A k ey role at t he natio nal level is as signed to the national Roma con tact points (NRCPs) that are
appointed by th e na tio n al g ove rnm ent s; s o me a re of Romani ba ck gro und , b ut t he m ajo rity are not.
Their reso urce s, roles and res ponsibilities var y signif icantly, as some of them a re assigned to int erior
minis tries and others to minist ries managing EU funding. Some are well staffed and ar e gi ven
coordinating functions, while ot hers are not. NRCPs rarely have a say as regards the con tent of Roma
1 Roma civil monitor pilot project, A synthesis report on implementation of national Roma integration strategies in
Bulgar ia, Czech Republi c, Hungary, Romani a and Slovaki a, European Commission, March 2018, p. 7.
2 See for example ‘Report on the implementation of the EU Framework for National Roma Integration Strategies 2015’,
European Commission, June 2015

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