CoE Mayors Summit on Roma People: +EU Fundamental Rights Agency official Demetrakopoulos to EuroFora

EU's Fundamental Rights Agency's (FRA) Director on Equality and Citizens' Rights, Ioanis Dimitrakopoulos, speaking to "EuroFora" at the CoE in Strasbourg, highlighted what EU expects from the PanEuropean "Summit of Mayors on Roma" People's itegration, organized by the Congress of Local and Regional Auhorities of Europe (CLRAE), whose President, British liberal Keith Whitmore, opened the event in cooperation with the City of Strasbourg's Mayor, French Socialist senator Roland Ries :

- "It sounds very Political, but it's Time to Start Acting !", the representative of EU's Fundamental Rights' Agency, stressed from the outset to "EuroFora".

- "Everybody says that it's about Time to put Words in Action" on Roma People integration, and, in fact, "That's what many Mayors are actually  doing". Already, "I'm glad to hear and see that a lot has been done", he noted.

- But, "the Next Step is to go on in a more Coordinated fashion", including "All Levels of Government", and this is, I think, where, to a large extend, the Problem lies", Dimitrakopoulos warned.

=> "That's why the (EU) Commission took the Initiative to create a Roma "Task Force".  It's a 1st of its kind. The (EU) Roma TaskForce help(ed) the (EU) Commission to develop the Framework (Program)/Plan). So, now, we have  an EU Framework.

>>> Currently, "the (EU) Member States are creating their own National Plans and Strategies", due before the end of 2011, "and there (in such Plans/Strategies) they have to involve also the Local Authorities, and what the LA actually do"

- "It's about how to InterLink now, between authorities, be it local, National, Regional or Local". This brings us back to what you said "Links between the Levels": - We have a Project, called : "Joint Up Government" : It's about inter-linking efficiently the differend levels, against Exclusion".

For such purposes, EU has already some "27 Billions € earmarked", he pointed out.
And EU Member States' part, "Co-Financing, is, comparatively, Small at this moment : F.ex.,= specially for a Country like Greece, it's particularly small, following the recent Decisions", Dimitrakopoulos observed.

"But, what we need to see at the same time,  is to look at previous Years, the level of Consumption :" - Who has been utilizing, ? Who uses these Funds ? 

- "Is it Countries with Large Roma Populations ? Is its Romania ? f.ex. , is it Bulgaria ? Is it Greece ?, etc.  Is it Hungary, the Czech Republic, SLovakia ? + What is their Level of Absorption ?, he wondered.

=> In fact, "it's in France, Italy, in Spain, etc, that there are much More High Levels of spending !", revealed the EFA Official.

- "Because this is related (also) to Good and Effective Administrations. So, a lot of Work has to be done, in Developing the Capacity of (National/Local) Administrationbs", EFA's Official pointed out.

 - 'But, "are they all (LA), really Willing to act efficiently ?", asked "EuroFora".   

 - In fact, apparently, "Mayors are "Mixed"", admitted FRA's Top Official, (See also infra). But "I don't know if they're other occasions" to start acting efficiently, he warned.                --------------------

Meanwhile, Education and Housing/Jobs apparently toppled most participants' attention among various Thematic Workshops organized at the CoE during the overall Conference :

- Referring to "Education",  specialized CoE Officer Helen Tsetseku, pointed "EuroFora"'s attention to the obvious :  In fact, <<from there starts everything about Integration>> of Roma, she stressed.

F.ex., among Roma living in some regions in Greece today, experienced Mayors of Chalkidona and Pella (northern Greece), Panagiotis Daikoudis and Grigoris Stamkos, told "EuroFora" that :  

- Just 60% of Roma Children complete an Elementary School, (i.e. 40% don't even do that !) ;

- Only 12% or 13% arrive at the Three first Classes of High School (College) ;

- About 2% or 3% are ending Lyceum (Bac. Level),

- so that less than 1% (some 0,5% only) arrive at University level !...

=> "The greatest Problem is at High School level, i.e. at an age when Roma Children "enter in the Production sphere", as Mayors from Greece told "EuroFora". Particularly when Work is Legal from 16 years of age", they observed...

Thus, it wasn't a surprise to find French Expert Jean-Pierre Liégois, Founder of "Gypsy Reseacrh Center" at Paris' University Rene Descartes, and Author of the Book "Gypsies and Europe", choose to become "Moderator" of the Workshop dedicated, precisely, to he "Equal Right to Education"...
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However, CoE's organizers prefered to place 1st, at the Plenary Sesssion's Room, those Workshop debates which were dedicated to "Housing, Health care and Employment", which are obviously crucial issues; particularly in order -to tackle immediate needs which cannot wait. It was not astonishing to find ou that even the 2 Greek Mayors who had given some Roma Education Statistics to "EuroFora" (See supra), had chosen this Workshop, that they considered as the most important in real practice..

There, participants heard, among others, an apparently Positive Experience, described by a Spanish delegate from Madrid's area, about a succesful project on Housing Roma People. The Spanish representative admitted that it was rather "Expensive", but worthwhile..
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Tsetseku told "EuroFora" that almost all 47 CoE Member Countries had sent at least 1 or 2 representatives to CLRAE's exceptional event on Roma.

However, as even other collegues, from the local Strasbourg's Media (f.ex. DNA, etc) witnessed, unlike other CPLRAE's meetings, this one was exceptionaly attended by just a few Mayors (about 50), and "none from any major city", with the only exception of the current Strasbourg's Mayor, Roland Ries (Socialist). Also exceptionally, CoE's Secretary General, Thornbjorn Jagland, and EU Commissioner Viviane Reding, didn't attend personally, sending only a Video with a kind salute from far away...

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Finally, denouncing in a "Declaration", the "persistent Exclusion and discrimination of Roma in local and regional communities across Europe, made evident by their continued marginalisation and lack of access to education, housing, healthcare and employment", as they said,  the participants decided to "establish a <<European Alliance of Cities and Regions for Roma Inclusion>>, to be set up as a framework for co-operation, sharing of good practices, strengthening local and regional capacities for action, identifying specific problems and proposing solutions, and helping to ensure funding for Roma activities at the grassroots level". Already, a "Core Group", due "to build this Alliance", was established by  6  EU cities and regions (Aubervilliers/France, Kavarna/Bulgaria, Malaga/Spain, Region of Madrid/Spain, Heraklion/Greece and the 5th district of Bucharest/Romania) .

Turkey, recently discovered as No 1 area of origin for Roma People among CoE's 47 Countries, was reportedly represented in this Conference, but didn't play yet an important role, unlike Romania, (No 2 area of origin).