Combating Institutional Anti-Gypsyism Responses and Promising Practices in the EU and Selected Member States Sergio Carrera, Iulius Rostas & Lina Vosyliūtė
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No 2017/08, May 2017 Combating Institutional Anti-Gypsyism Responses and promising practices in the EU and selected Member States Sergio Carrera, Iulius Rostas & Lina Vosyliūtė Abstract The notion of ‘anti-Gypsyism’ aims to refocus public policies addressing Roma discrimination in order to place responsibility for combating structural, historically-embedded and systemic forms of racism, discrimination and exclusion towards Roma squarely on state institutions and actors. This report examines the ways in which policies and funding combat ‘anti-Gypsyism’ in the European Union and selected Member States and assesses the added value of the ‘anti-Gypsyism’ concept, with particular reference to its institutional forms. It explores ways in which these institutional forms could be combated by identifying some ‘promising practices or experiences’ found in five selected EU Member States (Germany, Romania, Spain, Sweden and the UK). These ‘promising practices’ include reactive and proactive measures organised around four main themes: i) national, regional and local institutional responses; ii) training and education activities; iii) access to justice and effective remedies; and iv) media, public attitudes and political discourse. The report further draws conclusions and provides a set of policy recommendations for EU and national policy-makers to effectively combat anti-Gypsyism. The authors highlight that discussions on anti- Gypsyism should focus not only on its definition, but on the actual outputs of current national and EU policies and a more robust application of EU rule of law and fundamental rights monitoring and reporting mechanisms. A key proposal put forward is to expand the scope of the EU Framework for National Roma Integration Strategies to become the EU Framework for National Roma Inclusion and Combating Anti-Gypsyism and to equip it with the necessary authority and means to tackle systematic and institutional manifestations of anti-Gypsyism. Dr. Sergio Carrera is Senior Research Fellow and Head of Justice and Home Affairs Programme at CEPS; Visiting Professor at the Paris School of International Affairs (PSIA) at Sciences Po; Associate Professor/Senior Research Fellow at the Faculty of Law in Maastricht University; and Honorary Industry Professor/Senior Research Fellow at the School of Law in Queen Mary University of London; Dr. Iulius Rostas is the Chair of Romani Studies/Assistant Professor at Central European University in Budapest. He was an Affiliated Fellow with the Institute for Advanced Studies at CEU, Senior Fellow with the Open Society Foundations Roma Initiatives Office and Visiting Lecturer of Sociology at Corvinus University of Budapest; and Lina Vosyliūtė is Researcher at Justice and Home Affairs Programme at CEPS. CEPS Research Reports provide in-depth analyses of a wide range of key policy questions facing Europe, drawing on state-of-the-art research methodologies and the latest literature. As an institution, CEPS takes no position on questions of European policy. The views expressed in this Report are attributable only to the authors and not to any institution with which they are associated or to Open Society Foundations. 978-94-6138-604-5 Available for free downloading from the CEPS website (www.ceps.eu) © CEPS 2017 CEPS ▪ Place du Congrès 1 ▪ B-1000 Brussels ▪ Tel: (32.2) 229.39.11 ▪ www.ceps.eu Contents List of Abbreviations ................................................................................................................................. i Acknowledgments ................................................................................................................................... ii Executive Summary ................................................................................................................................. 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 6 Methodology ........................................................................................................................................... 7 1. The notion of anti-Gypsyism and its added value in the EU ............................................................ 9 1.1. What is anti-Gypsyism? ......................................................................................................... 9 1.2. What are the manifestations of anti-Gypsyism? ................................................................. 10 1.2.1. Most common manifestations................................................................................ 10 1.2.2. The most serious manifestation of anti-Gypsyism: Institutional racism and discrimination ......................................................................................................... 10 1.2.3. Framing Roma as ‘non-integrated foreigners’ ........................................................ 11 1.3. What is the added-value of the anti-Gypsyism concept? .................................................... 13 1.3.1. A democratic rule of law and fundamental rights angle ......................................... 14 1.3.2. The role of regional and local authorities .................................................................. 16 1.4. Differences with applicability of the anti-Gypsyism concept............................................... 18 1.4.1. The concept is accepted and used.......................................................................... 18 1.4.2. The Use of the concept by national and EU policy-makers .................................... 18 1.4.3. Concept used by and relevance for civil society actors .......................................... 20 2. How EU policies combat anti-Gypsyism? ....................................................................................... 22 2.1. Who is doing what at the European Commission? .............................................................. 22 2.2. EU Approaches and Policies ................................................................................................ 24 2.2.1. Integration and Inclusion approaches .................................................................... 25 2.2.2. Fundamental rights approach ................................................................................ 29 2.2.3. Rule of Law ............................................................................................................. 31 3. How EU funds are combating anti-Gypsyism? .............................................................................. 33 3.1. Who is funding what?.......................................................................................................... 33 3.1.1. European Regional Development Fund .................................................................. 35 3.1.2. European Social Fund ............................................................................................. 36 3.1.3. Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme .......................................................... 36 3.1.4. DG HOME – Europe For Citizens, Remembrance Strand ........................................ 37 3.2. Monitoring and accountability of EU funds ......................................................................... 37 3.2.1. European Ombudsman ........................................................................................... 37 3.2.2. European Court of Auditors .................................................................................... 39 3.2.3. EU Fundamental Rights Agency .............................................................................. 39 3.3. Potentials and challenges of EU funding ............................................................................. 40 4. Promising practices to combat anti-Gypsyism: Proactive and reactive actions and experiences .. 43 4.1. Institutional responses ........................................................................................................ 44 4.2. Training and educational initiatives ..................................................................................... 48 4.3. Access to justice and effective remedies ............................................................................. 51 4.4. Political discourse ................................................................................................................ 55 4.5. Media monitoring and combating hate speech .................................................................. 57 5. Conclusions and recommendations ............................................................................................... 59 5.1. Conclusions ......................................................................................................................... 59 5.2. Recommendations .............................................................................................................. 62 Bibliography .......................................................................................................................................... 66 Annex 1. What is anti-gypsyism? ........................................................................................................... 70 A1.1 Terminology........................................................................................................................... 70 A1.2 Definitions ............................................................................................................................. 70 A1.3 Features of anti-Gypsyism