Decent living and equal treatment of Roma is not a luxury, it is a necessity

“The Roma are part of our history and our heritage and they have contributed greatly to the cultural richness, diversity, economy and common history of Europe. On the 8th of April, we celebrate this and raise awareness of the situation of Romani people in Europe”, said Manfred Weber MEP, EPP Group Chairman, and Peter Pollák MEP in a call for more urgent action on Roma inclusion in Europe.

“Roma are Europeans and as such they should enjoy the same rights and equal treatment as any other European citizens. When looking at the realities in some Member States, there is little to be proud of, especially when we see the people living without access to drinking water and basic infrastructure in spite of massive financial investments made available during the previous years”, stated Pollák. “We need a fresh new start based on lessons learnt, more effective use of funds and proper monitoring.  Now is the time to move to implementation that brings results.”

 “It is clear more needs to be done; for example, when we look at integrating Romani children in education in our Member States. The EPP Group is dedicated to making further progress on the inclusion of Roma in the years to come and we are proud to have an MEP of Romani origin as Peter Pollák in the EPP Group”, said Weber.

“Roma deserve to enjoy a decent life, free from violence and discrimination. We want them to be proud Europeans, proud Roma”, Weber and Pollák concluded.

The EPP Group adopted its Position Paper on the EU Roma Inclusion Process in June 2020. Read here the full text.