To What Extent Does the European Union's Policy on Inclusion Affect
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To what extent does the European Union’s policy on inclusion affect the political representation of marginalised groups? Based on the case study of the Roma minority Marta Kąkol, 6500544 9 February 2021 - 18 June 2021 Utrecht University, the Netherlands Bachelor Thesis for the purpose of obtaining the degree Bachelor of Science Philosophy, Politics and Economics Word count (excl. references and appendix): 12 404 Major Discipline Supervisor: Dr. Ekaterina Rashkova-Gerbrands Minor Discipline Supervisor: Dr. Frank Sterkenburgh Table of Contents Abstract .................................................................................................................................................... 1 Problem Statement and Research Question ......................................................................................... 1 Relevance ............................................................................................................................................. 4 Interdisciplinary Approach .................................................................................................................... 4 State-of-the-art and theoretical framework ......................................................................................... 5 State-of-the-art .................................................................................................................................... 6 Theoretical Framework ...................................................................................................................... 9 Theoretical Similarities and Differences......................................................................................... 10 Insights Integration and final theoretical model ............................................................................ 11 Methods and Research Design ............................................................................................................. 13 Results and Analysis ............................................................................................................................. 15 Sub-question 1: Roma exclusion and discrimination in EU politics ............................................ 15 Theme one: public perception ......................................................................................................... 16 Theme two: populism...................................................................................................................... 16 Theme three: antigypsyism ............................................................................................................. 17 Theme four: limited mobilization ................................................................................................... 18 Sub-question 2: The European Parliament’s reflection of representation .................................. 19 Sub-question 3: Perception of representation by Roma interest groups ..................................... 22 Assessment of the policy................................................................................................................. 22 Implementation ............................................................................................................................... 23 Identified Roadblocks ..................................................................................................................... 24 Research insights ............................................................................................................................... 25 Policy Suggestions ............................................................................................................................. 27 Validity and Reliability ......................................................................................................................... 29 Conclusion.............................................................................................................................................. 30 References .............................................................................................................................................. 33 Appendix 1: Data Management Table ................................................................................................ 39 Appendix 2: Theory Extension Chart ................................................................................................. 42 Appendix 3: Interview Questions ........................................................................................................ 43 Appendix 4: Consent Form .................................................................................................................. 44 Appendix 5: Critical discourse analysis coding grid ......................................................................... 45 Appendix 6: Critical discourse analysis .............................................................................................. 49 Page 1 Abstract This thesis combines insights from political science and history through theory extension. Causal process tracing is used to investigate the effects of the European Union’s inclusion policy on minority representation. The thesis adopts a single case study of the Roma minority due to its complexity and uniqueness. The research uses various data generation and analysis methods, such as analysis of expert interviews and critical discourse analysis of speeches with a custom coding grid. Ten expert interviews with policymakers as well as civil society and advocacy organizations are conducted. The in-depth interview insights help identify the main historical causal factors that affect representation and measure the opinion of Roma stakeholders on the representativeness of the EU Roma Strategic Framework. The custom coding grid is used to analyze statements made by Members of the European Parliament during five Roma-related debates in the European Parliament and the LIBE Committee. The analysis of speeches explains the extent to which EP political parties in the European Parliament reflect the representation of the Roma minority. The study contributes to the academic debate by producing a more comprehensive understanding of minority representation in Europe through recognizing additional causal links. The most important identified causal factors are voice entrepreneurs, antigypsyism, public opinion, Europeanization and democratization, as well as openness and responsiveness of political systems and actors. Overall, the EU has grown more representative of minority views in recent years, but there is still misinformation and disagreement among MEPs. Some national governments still show clear signs of antigypsyism, which is often not explicitly recognized as a type of racism, making countermeasures more difficult to implement. While a more binding policy is virtually unachievable, the EU should focus on fighting the root cause of discrimination through education, increased horizontal and vertical communication as well as empowering minority interest groups. Problem Statement and Research Question Ethnic minorities across Europe often find themselves marginalized and under-represented in the policymaking processes on a national and international scale. Most minority groups are seen as passive agents with little or no influence. Consequently, major political actors take a passive or negative stance towards minority inclusion (Schemer and Müller 2017). The lack of comprehensive ethnic integration further legitimizes the widespread public discrimination and leads to expanding socio-economic and socio-cultural cleavages (Newton and Deth 2016, 186; Phillips 2010, 221-2). The wave of populist nationalism in the European Union incited by the vast refugee influx has led to a racial crisis (De Genova 2018, 1772). With the re-emergence of the “Black Lives Matter” movement in the United States, the European Union found itself under particular scrutiny from the public for not encouraging more diversity of race and ethnicity (Onyeji 2010; De Genova 2018, 1767). Those developments prompted the von der Leyen Commission to Page 2 include ‘union of equality’ as one of its main political guidelines for 2019-24 (European Commission 2020a). There are 12 million Roma estimated to reside across Europe, out of which over 6 million reside in the European Union, making Roma the largest ethnic minority in the EU (European Commission 2020b). In comparison, over 5 million Tatars reside in Europe, predominantly in Russia (Joshua Project n.d.) Even though historically, the Roma have been associated with constant migration, the majority is currently settled. Although divided into many sub-groups, the Roma minority has a common language and culture. Roma are spread predominantly across South-Eastern Europe, England and Germany (Amnesty International n.d.). Although they comprise the largest ethnic minority in Europe, there is a relatively low number of Roma MEPs in the European Parliament, as shown in Figure 1. Figure 1: Racial and ethnic minority representation following the results of the 2019 European Parliament elections Source: ENAR’s Election Analysis - Ethnic minorities in the new European Parliament 2019-2025 The EU Roma Strategic Framework 2020-30 and the proceeding 2011 EU Framework for National Roma Integration Strategies aim to increase Roma inclusion and create more equality (European Commission 2020c). Notably, the 2011 framework focuses predominantly on socio-economic aspects, whilst the post-2020 framework