EN Official Journal of the European Union CE 33/148

(2004/C 33 E/146)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1639/03

by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(16 May 2003)

Subject: Extra measures to promote means of subsistence in regions where Roma people constitute a large proportion of the population

1. Is the Commission aware that after the next two enlargements the population of the European Union will include at least three or four million Roma people, and that most of them are concentrated in the economically weakest regions, i.e. regions with high unemployment and low mean per capita incomes?

2. What is being done to ensure that in the future Member States with the largest percentages of Roma, namely Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria, sufficient EU funds are deployed from the time of their accession for projects to improve education, housing, sources of income and other facilities for the large Roma minorities, in order to create better opportunities for these residents to enjoy equal opportunities and equal status with other citizens, without having to migrate?

3. What is being done to ensure that in Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria, from the time of their accession, the disadvantaged regions where the Roma are concentrated receive assistance by means of cofinancing from EU funds? What is being done to prevent a large part of this funding from finding its way to the most prosperous, central regions, which may seek to further increase their advantage over the rest of the Member State concerned?

4. Do the existing rules on the taking of initiatives and the readiness of Member States or local authorities to provide cofinancing for them constitute an obstacle to special EU measures to assist the Roma and the regions where they mainly live? What, if anything, needs to change in order to eliminate such obstacles?

5. Will this issue be taken into account in decisions to be adopted concerning the extent to which and way in which EU funds are to be made available and deployed from 2006 onwards?

Answer given by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission

(19 August 2003)

According to estimates contained in the Commission's document, ‘EU Support for Roma Communities in Central and Eastern Europe’, published in May 2002, the Roma population of the European Union will increase by some 1,5 million people following enlargement to 25 Member States. Subsequent enlargement to include Bulgaria and Romania would add an estimated 3 million people to the Roma population of the Union.

The Commission is determined to ensure that the fullest use is made of the different instruments available at Community level by the authorities and other relevant actors in the Member States, the new Member States and the candidate countries in relation to the situation of the Roma communities.

The Union is already heavily engaged in efforts aiming to improve the situation of Roma communities in Europe. During the last three years alone, over EUR 77 million in funding has been provided through the PHARE programme for projects in Hungary, the Czech and Slovak Republics, Bulgaria and Romania directed at the Roma communities.

Similar initiatives are being funded in existing Member States such as Spain, Greece and France, through the European Social Fund, including the EQUAL Community Initiative, and European Regional Development Fund interventions in support of investment. Projects for Roma are also supported through other Community programmes such as Socrates, Youth for Europe and the Community Action Programme to Combat Discrimination.

Following the accession of new Member States which is scheduled for May 2004, Hungary and Slovakia will benefit from European Union support under the Structural Funds and Cohesion Fund. The programmes and projects supported by these funds can be used to contribute to projects in a variety of fields of potential benefit to the Roma population such as those concerning education and training, enterprise and infrastructure development.

Consistent with the principles of decentralised management of European programmes, it is the role of the authorities in the Member States to select projects for support, once the broad strategic objectives of the programmes have been agreed with the Commission. It is for these authorities to ensure that the projects selected contribute to the needs of the whole of the population concerned in accordance with the strategic objectives of the programme.

Following accession, new Member States will also have to ensure conformity with Council Directive 2000/43/EC of 29 June 2000 on equal treatment between persons irrespective of racial or ethnic origin (1) and Council Directive 2000/78/EC of 27 November 2000 establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation (2).

Similarly, Bulgaria and Romania will benefit from European Cohesion policies, and will have to conform with Community law, in accordance with the provisions that exist at the time of accession.

(1) OJ L 180, 19.7.2000.

(2) OJ L 303, 2.12.2000.