ROMA INTEGRATION : ONLY 15 STATES HAVE SUBMITTED NATIONAL STRATEGIES.

• Position: Brief article

Only 15 of the 27 member states submitted their Roma integration strategies to the European Commission by the deadline of 31 December 2011. France, Romania, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Greece, Latvia, Hungary, the Netherlands, Portugal, Finland, Slovakia, Poland and Malta are the only states that kept their commitment of 23-24 June 2011, when the European Council approved the EU framework for national Roma integration strategies.

Proposed in April 2011, the framework is meant to improve Roma integration through a specific agenda and clear guidelines. It calls on member states to facilitate Roma access to education, employment, health care, housing and basic related services, and also insists on better use of EU funds. More concretely, it asks member states, taking into account their respective differences...