National Mechanism Governments EC Delegations. This mechanism needs two components: a EU component and a national component

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1 European Roma Platform structure Summary Political Leadership Tarja Halonen, Jan Marinus Wiersma? EC - Expert Secretariat European Task-Force Anti- Consultation Mechanism A Forum of Roma NGOs Decade of Roma Inclusion Intergovernmental Institutions and INGOs EU mechanism Commission Seconded National Experts Independent -Experts National Mechanism Governments EC Delegations a. Political leadership The EU Roma Platform needs a strong political leadership in order to have any relevance the Finish president Tarja Halonen when she retires ( at the end of 2012) would be a perfect choice and target in order to keep the interest on the issues. Up to that point a 2 years appointment of Jan Marinus Wiersma seems to me a good idea as he is semi-retired. or a senior politician from central-eastern Europe ( Kinga Goncz could be a good solution too) b. Expert secretariat this is in my opinion what will make or break the future platform we should avoid by any means the set up of a circus or a compromise for one. The platform needs a hard-core group of experts willing and able to address also sensitive issues. Such a group needs to prove a stronger commitment from Member States to addressing Roma issues and lead to: - An increased efficiency of the Commission in dealing with the social inclusion of Roma - A significant improvement of Roma related expertise within the Commission and Member States - A better participation of Roma and Roma experts in the process of social inclusion. This mechanism needs two components: a EU component and a national component EU mechanism In order to stimulate the efficiency of policy coordination under the future EU Roma Platform, the monitoring of funding distributed by the European Commission, and the commitments of Member States towards social inclusion of Roma, the first step should be - establishing an independent Permanent Expert Secretariat

2 This secretariat should include Commission senior staff (4 to 5 people), national seconded Roma experts and independent experts. The inclusion of Roma experts would be a first step in showing the real commitment of both European Commission and Member States towards an inclusive approach. The secretariat should involve, at minimum, five seconded Roma experts from Eastern and Central Europe (Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic) and two from Western Europe (Spain and another country willing to second an expert) and 3 to 5 independent experts including a possible ERGO seconded person. It needs also to be linked to the Roma internship scheme. This mechanism should be directly responsible in the creation and management of a EU Task-Force against anti-gypsyism Fundamental Rights Agency, OSCE, Council of Europe and the UN need to be represented in the task-force in order to maximize its impact. The secretariat should be complemented by better mechanisms at the national level. National level mechanism(s) An inter-ministerial Roma group should be established at the level of the national government ideally under the cabinet of the prime-minister. Similar with the case of the European Commission such an inter-ministerial group should have a dedicated permanent secretariat including both high level public functionaries and Roma experts proposed by NGOs. This is recommended in the case of Member States with a significant Roma population (i.e Romania, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Hungary, Spain) One possible solution at the national level is another Commission and Member State common initiative: governments, in consultation with Roma NGOs, could second Roma experts to work at the EC representations at the national level. These experts could facilitate the exchange of positive practices and work together with their colleagues in Brussels and other stakeholders in examining, designing and proposing the most appropriate solutions to the European Union and Member States for the social inclusion of Roma at the level of institutional mechanisms and also policies. Consultation mechanism there are a number of components which need to be taken in consideration when designing such a consultation mechanism a. Decade of Roma Inclusion which ensures a consultation mechanism at the level of governments b. A forum of Roma NGOs - either ERIO or other EC grant should ensure a mechanism of periodical consultation of Roma NGOs ( the European Roma and Travellers Forum as well as the IRU need to play a much more active role in such consultations) c. An intergovernmental institutions consultation ( European Commission, Council of Europe, OSCE and the UN) could be the Task-Force Experts from the secretariat should take part in these meetings. European Roma Platform (ERP) strategic directions ERP should be in charge of developing a temporary targeted EU Roma framework strategy. This strategy should focus on developing the human resources capacity and responsibility of the Roma, stimulating active citizenship in regard to social inclusion of both Roma and non- Roma and on creating functional mechanisms to ensure effective participation of the Roma in mainstream policy-making and implementation. Such a policy would cover a time span of 10 to 20 years and inspire and be inspirational for and inspired by Roma national strategies. A number of priorities should be part of such strategy.

3 1. Data collection is critical. As a first step ERP should facilitate a debate on data collection having as result in what data, who and how it collects to ensure adequate policy implementation monitoring and evaluation. 2. The ERP should come up with clear targets, timeframes, and indicators to measure the effects of national and european Roma strategies. Inbuilt effective mechanisms for monitoring, assessment, and review need to be part of an EU Roma framework strategy and provide a model of similar institutional mechanisms implemented at the national level. 3. Such a strategy should be based on temporary ( 5 years intially the mandate of a Commission, then to be avaluated and deecided if and how to be continued for a period of 10 to 20 years) horizontal institutional mechanism inside the European Commission capable of institutionally addressing some of the previously underlined.this type of mechanism should be replicated within the national governments. 4. The strategy should focus on developing human resources from within the Roma communities and seek to improve the active participation of Roma communities in their societies.an EU wide human resources operational plan focused on Roma, based on Roma specific chapters of the existing national operational plans, could be a solution. 5. The strategy should address the overlapping of activities and overall lack of coordination and strategic approach of intergovernmental institutions (the Council of Europe, OSCE, and the UN) in regard to Roma. 6. The strategy should address the lack of coordination and strategic approach as well as the limited exchanges of experience between Member States in regard to Roma. The strategy should address the limited results of the Open Method of Coordination concerning Roma and the practices of exaggerated reporting for good and failed EU-funded projects on Roma. Bad practices need collection, analysis, and inclusion in a database of lessons learned of Roma-specific projects and projects with a Roma component. 7. The policy should rethink funding in general and NGO funding in particular. A new PHARE type of funding is much needed focused on development of local Roma communities and facilitating interactions among Roma and local authorities.without a clear strategy supported by dedicated funding for Roma capacity building, only limited chances for sustainable effects are present. On NGO funding, we recommend three distinct directions: Social contractor NGOs (NGOs that implement projects) should have funding linked to creation of human resources from within the Roma communities in addition to the existing and needed Roma NGO involvement in experimenting and implementing policies targeting social inclusion of Roma. Long term financing of watchdogs and think tanks should be established, capable of keeping anti-gypsyism in check and capable of monitoring the performance of both social contractors and governments. These organisations should also have a distinct inbuilt human resources component. Main funding should go towards NGOs that address empowerment and grassroots development. These NGOs should be strongly backed up politically and stimulated to address the issues related to begging, trafficking, child abuse, violence, and criminality within the Roma communities. Also clear indicators for building human resources need to be set up in place as a prerequisite for accessing EU funding.

4 8. The strategy should address the lack of Roma-related expertise at the level of the European Union and the lack of consistent dialogue and feedback among the EC and Roma. The minimalist approach of the EC up to this moment is well reflected in the existing Roma focused structures at the EU level. Despite the fact that many member states have such mechanisms, no Roma expert is employed by the European Commission in Brussels. Minimalist is also the idea that funding with 200,000 Euro per year one Roma Organisation in Brussels 1 could solve the very complex issues related to the need of a dialogue mechanism between the EC and Roma 9. The strategy should help address sensitive issues such as begging, trafficking, criminality within the Roma communities. Grassroots development, empowerment of Roma and active citizenship should be significant targets of such a policy to address effectively the above-mentioned problems from within the Roma communities. 10. The strategy should eliminate policies and institutional mechanisms that continue directly or indirectly to preserve the social exclusion of Roma. 11. The strategy needs specifically to target the elimination of anti-gypsyism and establish an European Task Force against anti-gypsyism to do so. Eliminating existing ambiguities related to the social inclusion of Roma (such as a definition of Roma, a list of affirmative actions encourged by the EU...) should be other priorities The above recommendations should be examined and updated following a series of roundtables bringing together EC senior staff members, experts on social inclusion, and Roma experts. The end-result should be a report used as a basis for an EU Roma Framework Strategy. European Roma Platform Possible concrete measures 1. DG Employment and Social Affairs within the next funding period introduce a strand dealing explicitly with the social integration of Roma which to complement the existing strands. This component should support assessments of the various forms and causes of social exclusion of the Roma (taking into account the variety of Roma groups and communities) and to orient policy development, to support anti-gypsyism campaigns, capacity building in the Roma communities, development of a Roma inclusion networks/platform and development and exchange of good practices This funding line should require a significant participation from the Member States in order to ensure their commitment and should target mainly the local authorities. 2. DG Culture and Education Introduction of a focused Roma component within the Lifelong Learning Program which to complement and strengthen the existing Roma Education Fund initiatives within the Decade of Roma Inclusion Education is the area that can produce long lasting effects for reducing the skills gap, one of the key factors for Roma exclusion from quality employment. It is also 1 In August 2009, the only EC-funded Roma organisation is the European Roma Information Office

5 the most important tool for preventing social exclusion, according to EC policy documents as well as various researches. 3. DG Justice and Civil Liberties the available programs (Security and safeguarding Liberties; Fundamental rights and Justice; Solidarity and Management of Migration Flows) need to have distinct Roma components. As the DGJCL is in charge of the Fundamental Rights Agency it should make sure that anti-gypsyism is clearly addressed and monitored by the FRA. The existing Inter-service group on Racism needs to have on its agenda anti- Gypsyism and include a future Roma focused body of the European Commission. DG Regional Development (Cohesion fund targets all EU Countries with a significant Roma population) should promote active participation of Roma in the projects supported with Structural funds, should monitor closely that Roma communities have access to measures to build local infrastructure or to support urban regeneration. DG Enlargement - following the Copenhagen criteria and respect for minority rights within the European Union -should support development and implementation of specific initiatives aiming at Roma inclusion within each pre-accession country DG AGRI should also support the inclusion of rural Roma communities in rural development projects aiming at improving life quality and to promoting diversification of economic activities in the in rural areas under the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development. Horizontal Approach of Roma Issues within the European Union This should translate in a. A new PHARE program- the establishment of a new EU wide program targeting the social inclusion as well as the cooperation between traditional/isolated/nomadic Roma communities and local authorities b. Specific Roma chapter of the European Employment Strategy c. Creation of a Roma working group within the EU Council( Inter-ministerial group within the Council of the European Union this could be created within either EPSCO but at the same time should have links with JHA, GAERC and EYC) d. A EU wide Roma Human Resources Development Operational Program ( considering the abysmal situation at this moment this should be a main priority for both the EC and Member States) e. Creation of effective Roma structures within and outside the European Commission f. Funding lines targeting the institutional support of Roma NGOs ( focused mainly on NGOs targeting grassroots empowerment and development of Human Resources from Roma communities) g. Give a specific task to the FRA to monitor and be involved in the fight against anti-gypsyism