The FRA’s work on Roma

Fundamental Rights Agency

ECDC Conference27-28 November

Vienna

Lisbon Treaty

The Union “shall combat social exclusion and discrimination, and shall promote social justice and protection, equality between women and men, solidarity between generations and protection of the rights of the child” - Art. 3 Para. 3 (TEU)

“In defining and implementing its policies and activities, the Union shall aim to combat discrimination based on sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation” - Art. 10 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU)

EU Charter Fundamental Rights

Article 21 - Non-discrimination Any discrimination based on any ground such as sex, race, colour, ethnic or social origin, genetic features, language, religion or belief, political or any other opinion, membership of a national minority, property, birth, disability, age or sexual orientation shall be prohibited.

EU Antidiscriminationlegislation

The Racial Equality Directive (RED) 2000/43/EC Implements the principle of equal treatment between people irrespective of racial or ethnic origin;

Gives protection against discrimination in employment and training, education, social security, healthcare and access to goods and services including housing;

Gives victims of discrimination a right to make a complaint through a judicial or administrative procedure, associated with appropriate penalties for those who discriminate. Provides for the establishment in each Member State of an organisation - National Equality Body

FRA Research & Data Collection

Roma Pilot survey – Results in 2012The situation of Roma EU citizens moving to and settling in other EU Member States – November 2009 Housing conditions of Roma and Travellers in the EU – October 2009EU-MIDIS Data in Focus Report: The Roma – April 2009Roma and Travellers in Public Education – May 2006Breaking the Barriers – Romani Women and Access to Public Health Care – July 2003

7 September 2010 EC creates Roma Task Force “to assess the use of EU funding by MSs with regard to the social and economic integration of Roma, Europe's largest minority”

21 December 2010 first findings indicate: bottlenecks at national, regional and local levels in using EU

funds due to lack of know-how and of administrative capacity Problems in providing national co-financing Lack of civil society and Roma communities involvement Lack of official data on Roma households

Policybackground

Policy Background

Communication COM (2011) 173 on an EU Framework for National Roma Integration Strategies up to 2020

Sets EU Roma integration goals in four areas: access to education, employment, healthcare and housingMember States are requested to prepare or revise their national Roma integration strategies and present them to the Commission by the end of December 2011

7

EC Communication mandates FRA to:

Expand research to all MSs and run it regularly to measure progress on the ground Collect data on the situation of Roma with respect to access to employment, education, healthcare and housing Work with MSs to develop monitoring methods

Designing and launching major Roma survey in January 2011 In close cooperation with UNDP (DG REGIO Grant) – common

core questionnaire Covering 11 EU-MS < FR, ES, IT, PL, EL, CZ, SK, BG, RO, HU > In addition, UNDP covers MN, SRB, ALB, BIH, MK (non-EU MSs) Household survey 1,000 Roma and 500 non-Roma per country Randomly selected sample of household + one individual Self-identification of respondents Survey of selected local authorities

The FRA response

The survey includes a section on HEALTH

Topics addressed:

• Self assessment of health status

• Unmet needs in health and reasons for unmet needs

• Access to reproductive health

EU-MIDIS

23,500 migrants and minorities surveyed 5,000 majority population as control Largest minority groups (up to 3) surveyed in each MS Self-identified migrant/minority background Respondents: age 16+, in MS at least 1 year Random sample of 500 – 1,500 respondents in each MS Face-to-face interviews 20 to 60 minutes in homes Fieldwork: From May – mid July + Nov 2008

DiscriminationExperiences and Reporting

EmploymentEducationHousing

Health + social servicesConsumer services

General perceptions on discrimination in MS

Rights awareness – complaints

VictimisationExperiences and Reporting

Property crimeAssault and threat

Serious harassment

Corruption

Police stops/contact

Border stops

Respondent Variables

The issues

Data in focus Report: The Roma

Data in focus report

Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia 500 Roma respondents interviewed in each Member State Interview period: 3 May – 10 July 2008 As a group, the Roma reported the highest overall levels of discrimination of all groups surveyed.

-> the scientific literature shows a clear association between perception of racial discriminations and poor physical and mental health (Bhopal 2006; Williams et al, 2008)

Discrimination rate% discriminated against in the past 12 months in all areas

% of respondents who did not report discrimination incidents

Main reasons for not reporting discrimination (%)

78

52

44

39

23

Nothing would happen/change byreporting

Didn't know how to go aboutreporting/where to report

It's normal, happens all the time - notworth reporting it/too trivial

Concerned about negativeconsequences/contrary to my interest

Inconvenience/too much bureaucracyor trouble/no time

Awareness of discrimination law when applying for work?

Knowledge of any organisation that can offer support or advise to people who have been discriminated against (%)

81% of respondents who indicated they were victims of assault, threat or serious harassment considered that their victimisation was racially motivated

Thank you for your attention

www.fra.europa.eu