Activities of Cecilia WIKSTRÖM related to 2017/2038(INI)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on fundamental rights aspects in Roma integration in the EU: fighting anti-Gypsyism PDF (617 KB) DOC (98 KB)
Amendments (38)
Amendment 17 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas persistent and structural anti-Gypsyism2 can be detected at all levels of European society; on a daily basis manifesting itself, e.g. in individual and institutional neglect, discrimination, belittling, othering and scapegoating; 2: Anti-Gypsyism is sometimes spelt differently, and in the various Member States it is sometimes referred to by a slightly different term, such as Antiziganismus
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas anti-Gypsyism can be found in the work and workings of public authorities and institutions in all spheres and at all levels in the Member States, manifesting itself most commonly in the failure to provide Roma with equal access, or any access to public utilities and services, their denial of equal rights and equal treatment, and the creation of discriminative programmesthe omission of Roma people from policy-making and knowledge-production processes, the creation of discriminative programmes and the misuse of funding opportunities for improving the lives of Roma;
Amendment 33 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas inadvertent anti-Gypsyism can even be observed in the workings of the EU institutions, as numerous EU programmes and funds that could have a positive impact on the living conditions and life prospects of Roma do not reach them, as well as in the EU acquis, which often fails to take into consideration the challenges faced by Roma, who, due to their having been subject to multiple forms of discrimination for centuries, are unable to enjoy the same rights and opportunities, and the same level of protection as other EU citizens or they symbolically designate the Roma as one of their beneficiaries but do not take into account their realities, and the discrimination they face in all walks of life;
Amendment 35 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E a (new)
Recital E a (new)
E a. whereas anti-Gypsyism, however unconscious it might be, can be revealed in the EU acquis, which often fails to take into consideration the realities and challenges of Roma, who, due to their having been subject to multiple discrimination for centuries, are unable to enjoy the same rights and opportunities, and the same level of protection provided by the EU acquis as other EU citizens;
Amendment 42 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas there is a persistent paternalistic treatment of Roma in our societydetectable both in language and actions in our society, only stressing the need for Roma "inclusion" or "integration", when, in fact, what is needed is a fundamental shift in approach; we need to focus on the failure of states to stop the deprivation of Roma and ensure their access to and full enjoyment of their fundamental rights and citizenship;
Amendment 45 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas Roma are continually referred to as a vulnerable people, when, in fact, depriving Roma of their inalienable human rights and denying them equal treatment and access suggest that it is the structures established and maintained by those in power that render Roma vulnerableto welfare, services, information, justice, education, healthcare, employment, etc. suggest that it is the structures established and maintained by those in power that are discriminatory, that render Roma vulnerable, that this demonstrates that the relevant authorities have ignored their human rights responsibilities;
Amendment 62 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Stresses that in order to fight against the subconscious societal consensus to exclude Roma and in order to tear down stereotypes, it is essential to educate mainstream societies by awareness-raising campaigns on anti-Gypsyism created and reinforced through popular literature, media, arts and language through centuries, it is essential to educate mainstream societies about the diversity of Roma, their history, and the extent and severity of the anti-Gypsyism that they face in their everyday lives; in that respect, calls on Member States to take full responsibility for their Roma citizens and launch long-term awareness-raising and intersectional sensitising campaigns;
Amendment 65 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. Considers active, meaningful participation by Roma as key in tackling anti-Gypsyism effectively and creating much-needed mutual trust for the benefit of the whole society; calls on the Commission and Member States to design strategies featuring both proactive and reactive measures on the basis of real, systemic consultations with Roma representatives and NGOs, and involve them in the running, monitoring and evaluation of mainstream programmes and projects launched;
Amendment 74 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. UFor the sake of creating essential, mutual trust, urges the Commission to set up a truth and reconciliation commission at EU level to acknowledge the persecution, exclusion and disownment of Roma throughout the centuries, and to document these in an official white paper and to engage with Parliament in carrying out research on how to launch such a process at EU level, with the involvement of Roma experts;
Amendment 77 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Calls on Member States to set up national truth and reconciliation commissions and to make the history of Roma part of school curriculawith the involvement of members of Parliament, government officials, lawyers and Roma representatives to acknowledge the human rights violations of Roma, and to make the history of Roma part of the curricula in schools; commemorate the victims of the Roma Holocaust and mark 2 August as Roma Holocaust Memorial Day; grant appropriate, immediate restitution to living Holocaust survivors through a simplified procedure, accompanied by an awareness-raising campaign;
Amendment 80 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3 a. Calls on the Commission and Member States to include Roma victims in their commemorations held on 27 January each year to mark Holocaust Remembrance Day and to organise trainings for civil servants on the Roma Holocaust;
Amendment 84 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Expresses its concern that most mainstream programmes, including those covered by Structural Funds, fail to reach out to the most disadvantaged, in particular the Roma; therefore, calls on the Court of Auditors to check the performance of EU programmesemployment- and education programmes, such as Erasmus+ and the YEI, in this regard;
Amendment 90 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Calls on the Commission to - assess EU programmes and funding opportunities to determine if they meet the requirement of non-discrimination and participation, and where necessary, to take corrective measures, including by suspending without delay; - safeguard that the complaint mechanism is made more accessible and transparent for residents, NGOs and authorities to enable them to report discriminatory EU funds and programmes; - suspend funding in cases of misuse of EU funds, and, and tos the repeated societal narrative of the amount of money spent on Roma without achieving tangible results feeds anti-Gypsyism; - reform ESIF so that they provide financial support to the fight against anti- Gypsyism in a more proactive way, and - extend the Europe for Citizens and the Rights, Equality and Citizenship funding programmes recognising the role ofimportant role of civil society watchdog organisations in monitoring anti-Gypsyism and ensuring the respect of fundamental rights;
Amendment 94 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5 a. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to - ensure that the projects financed by the EU are inclusive and fight segregation; segregational practices must be clearly described and explicitly excluded from funding; - improve funding opportunities in order to safeguard that the education and employment opportunities created provide a real and sustainable way out of long- term unemployment, which is necessary to live in dignity;
Amendment 103 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. CBased on the alarming reports of NGOs and watchdog organisations, calls on the Commission to continue launching infringement proceedings against all Member States, without exception, that breach or fail to transpose or implement equal treatment directives, such as the Racial Equality Directive (2000/43/EC), the Free Movement and Residence Directive (2004/38/EC), the Victims' Rights Directive (2012/29/EU), the Council Framework Decision (2008/913/JHA) on racism and xenophobia, the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (2010/13/EU), and the Council Directive on equal treatment between men and women (2004/113/EC) and that on equal treatment in employment and occupation (2000/78/EC);
Amendment 115 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Calls on Member States to take measures to prevent and counter anti-Roma hate speech- clearly condemn and sanction the denial of Roma Holocaust, hate speech and scapegoating by politicians and public officials at all levels and in all types of media, as they directly reinforce anti- Gypsyism in society, - take measures to prevent and counter anti-Roma hate speech in particular online through the Joint Code of Conduct with IT companies;
Amendment 118 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8 a. Urges the Commission and Member States to intensify their work with NGOs to deliver best practice training on countering prejudice as well as on effective counter speech campaigns through mapping NGO partners' specific needs and demands in this respect;
Amendment 119 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 b (new)
Paragraph 8 b (new)
8 b. Calls on the Commission to launch a civil society monitoring and reporting call concerning hate speech, hate crime and Holocaust denial in the Member States;
Amendment 126 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Deplores the violation of the right of Roma to free movement; calls on Member States to acknowledge that the fundamental principles of the EU must apply to all citizens;
Amendment 129 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10 a. Calls on Member States to tackle the bias against Roma refugees and asylum seekers in the context of migration;
Amendment 136 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Condemns those Member States which carry out discriminatory birth registration and that fail to provide identity documents, resulting in Roma being denied access to all the essential basic services; calls on Member States to take immediate corrective measures and active steps in this regardto stop discriminatory birth registration, and through their local authorities take active steps in this regard by moving the burden of registration from the parents to the responsible authorities; calls on the Commission to assess and monitor the situation in Member States and initiate legally binding legislation on the identification and protection of people whose citizenship have not been recognised and have no access to identity documents;
Amendment 139 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Is deeply concerned by the unequal access of Roma to health information, services and care, and their racial abusthe severe lack of health insurance cards among them, and their racial abuse; is alarmed by the discrimination of Roma women, who are often placed in segregated, sub-standard maternity wards, and face physical abuse, neglect, under- and mistreatment by medical staff when attempting to access sexual and reproductive healthcare services, and who often do not access mobile health screenings; urges Member States to set up a monitoring and corrective mechanism to this end immediately, and to ensure that medical personnel who violate ethics are held accountable;
Amendment 157 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Condemns Member States’' failure to secure Roma people’'s equal access to justice and their equality before the law taking shape - in the failure or in the unacceptably slow procedures of ensuring justice for the victims of hate crimes, especially those perpetrated by police officers, - in the disproportionate criminalisation and incarceration of Roma, - in over-policing (ethnic profiling, excessive stop-and-search procedures, uncalled-for raids on Roma settlements, arbitrary seizure and destruction of property, excessive use of force during arrests; assaults, threats, humiliating treatment, physical abuse, and the denial of rights during police interrogation and custody), - and in under-policing of crimes committed against Roma providing little or no assistance, protection (such as in cases of trafficking and for victims of domestic violence) or investigation in cases of crimes reported by Roma; calls on Member States to - provide mandatory, human rights-based and service-oriented, in-service training to law enforcement officers and officials in the judicial system at all levels, to- provide best practices on identifying and investigating hate crimes, including those motivated specifically by anti-Gypsyism, - set up anti-hate crime units with knowledge of anti-Gypsyism in police forces, - encourage appropriate policing and in cases of police misconduct, to apply sanctions, - recruit dispute resolution professionals for work with police, - actively recruit Roma as members of the police force, - ensure that victim support programs address the specific needs of Roma, that and assistance is provided to them when reporting crimes and filing complaints, and to- continue and to extend the geographic scope of JUSTROM programm, a joint Commission- CoE programme on Roma women's access to justice;
Amendment 160 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)
Paragraph 16 a (new)
16 a. Calls on CEPOL to continue the provision of trainings in the field of fundamental rights and the related intersectional sensitisation of the police force;
Amendment 163 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Is deeply concerned about widespread discrimination in housingthe field of housing characterised by a discriminatory rental and property ownership market, and social housing system, forced evictions and demolitions of the homes of Roma without the provision of adequate alternative housing, the placement of Roma in segregated camps and emergency shelters cut off from basic services, the erection of walls around Roma settlements, and the failure of public authorities to secure Roma people's full access to daily potable tap water and to sewage systems; calls on Member States to take immediate steps to utilise the EU funds at hand to improve the housing situation of the Roma; calls on the Commission to recognise its competence in the context of racially motivated forced evictions; calls for an increase in the number and availability of desegregation experts in the Member States most concerned in order to support authorities in ensuring that European structural and investment funds effectively promote desegregation, and calls for the European Social Fund and the European Regional Development Fund (ESF-ERDF) to be earmarked for spatial desegregation measures;
Amendment 171 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Deplores continuing school segregation; calls on Member States to take desegregation measures using adequate resource, paying attention also to intersectional discrimin, including the overrepresentation of Roma children in "special schools", Roma-only schools, separate classes, "container schools", etc.; calls on Member States to draw up and take specific school desegregation measures, paying attention also to intersectional discrimination, with the involvement of Roma experts and school mediators, and ensure adequate resource for such measures; calls on the Commission to continue launching infringement proceedings against all the Member States, without exception, which fail to secure equal access to high-quality integrated education services to Roma at all levels of education;
Amendment 180 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Considers the discrimination of Roma in employmentthe field of employment, most often characterised by long-term unemployment, zero-hour contracts, precarious employment conditions which lack medical and social insurance or pensions, labour market barriers (existing even for Roma with tertiary education) and the lack of re-training possibilities, alarming;
Amendment 185 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 a (new)
Paragraph 19 a (new)
19 a. Calls for Member States to engage with the private sector on the development of public-private partnerships to support educational, employment and business opportunities for Roma, especially in growing technology sectors;
Amendment 188 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 b (new)
Paragraph 19 b (new)
19 b. Notes the importance of early STEM education, especially for women and girls; calls on Member States to work with the private sector to advance science, technology and innovation initiatives for young Roma;
Amendment 196 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Urges the Commission and Member States to pay special attention toCondemns multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination in case of Roma women, men, children, elderly people, LGBTI people, disabled people and based on national origin; urges the Commission and Member States to pay special attention to improving educational attainment, participation, the access to employment, housing, healthcare and to the prevention of discrimination in case of Roma facing multiple and intersectional discrimination and inequality;
Amendment 199 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20 a (new)
Paragraph 20 a (new)
20 a. Regards equality bodies as vital to inform Roma about their rights, assist them in exercising their rights and report on discrimination; calls on the Commission to establish standards to secure that equality bodies have adequate powers and resources to monitor and act on cases of anti-Gypsyism; calls on Member States to ensure necessary powers, resources and independence to equality bodies;
Amendment 208 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Is concerned about the low level of participation of Roma people as interlocutors with or seated representatives of local, regional and national governments and the failure of governments to guarantee their exercise of full citizenship; it is the responsibility of governmental institutions and political parties to ensure the political participation and empowerment of Roma and their recruitment into public administrations;
Amendment 213 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Calls on Member States to provide mandatory, practical and intersectional fundamental rights and non-discrimination- related trainings for all public officials, who are duty bearers and key to the correct implementation of EU and Member State legislation, in order to equip them with the necessary knowledge and skills to be able to serve all citizens from a human rights-based perspective;
Amendment 226 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading 5
Subheading 5
Putting anti-Gypsyism at the forefront of an improved post-2020 strategy
Amendment 229 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
25. Calls on the Commission to - continue the EU Framework for National Roma Integration Strategies after 2020, tobuilding on the findings and recommendations of the Court of Auditors, the FRA, NGOs and watchdog organisations; - place anti-Gypsyism in itsthe focus of the post-2020 EU Framework and to introduce anti-discrimination indicators in the relevant fields; calls furthermore on the Commission tofields of education, employment, housing, health, etc., as anti-Gypsyism undermines the successful implementation of National Roma Integration Strategies; - treat anti-Gypsyism as a horizontal issue, and to develop – in partnership with Member States, the FRA and NGOs – an inventory of practical steps for Member States to combat it, and to set up a Commissioner-level project team on Roma issuesanti-Gypsyism; - complete the Roma Task Force of relevant Commission services by setting up a Commissioner-level project team on Roma issues, bringing together all the relevant commissioners working in the field of equal rights and non- discrimination, citizenship, social rights, employment, education and culture, health, housing, and their external dimension, in order to safeguard the creation of non- discriminatory and complementary EU funds and programmes; - to complement the work of the Non- discrimination and Roma coordination unit of the Commission by employing a coordinator on fighting anti-Gypsyism and on Holocaust remembrance;
Amendment 237 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25 a (new)
Paragraph 25 a (new)
25 a. Calls on EU institutions, such as the Commission, EP, the EEAS, EESC, CoR, FRA, etc., to actively recruit Roma employees and trainees, and support the retention of Roma in public administration;
Amendment 249 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27
Paragraph 27
27. Calls on all political groups in Parliament and political parties in the Member States to respect the revised charter of European political parties for a non-racist society, and to condemn and sanction hate speech;
Amendment 252 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28
Paragraph 28
28. Calls on the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights to prepare a study on anti-Gypsyism in the EU and candidate countries, to focus on anti- Gypsyism during their work on Roma issues and to monitor it in all relevant fields;