Annual Report 2014 - Discrimination and the Roma community

Discrimination and the Roma Community 2014

2. The role of political leaders in

combating discrimination. European

Parliamentary Elections 2014

Gonzalo Montaño and Carolina Fernández

International Department. FSG.

2014 was a year of elections in Europe and we have

heard promises of change and proposals for improve-

ments from the different parties. These European Par-

liamentary elections, held for the eighth time in history,

presented us with the different political options, some

of which were new in the European political scenario,

with their different messages. And these elections were

more important than we may have thought. Ratification

of the new European Commission was contingent upon

the make-up of the European Parliament. This means

that in the May 2014 elections, we decided on the legis-

lative and executive powers of the European Union (EU),

although the European model does not correspond ex-

actly to Spain’s system of government and its different

branches.

The Roma population, Europe’s most numerous minority

(with an estimated population of between 10 and 12 mil-

lion) continues to be the one facing the most discrim-

ination and whose poverty and social exclusion levels

are totally unacceptable. The impact of policies tar-

geting Roma inclusion remains very weak; a long-term

focus is needed to reduce the wide gap separating the

Roma population from the majority population.

Recent publications in Spain and the rest of Europe (the

Fundamental Rights Agency of the European Union -

FRA, Discrimination Map in Spain, Report on social de-

velopment and exclusion FOESSA) provide us with dis-

turbing figures: 90% of Roma in Europe live below the

poverty line and one out of every five Roma in the EU

has been the victim of racist violence. In our country,

data show that 72% of the Roma population live in a sit-

uation of exclusion and 35.4% of the majority popula-

tion would feel uncomfortable having Roma neighbours.

In light of this, what role should Europe’s political leaders

play to improve the situation? What should we demand

of our representatives?

The economic crisis we are undergoing is an ide-

al breeding ground for political parties that promote

themselves through hate speech, xenophobia and rac-

ism and these most recent European elections were

certainly no exception. Blaming the economic situation

on the weakest (immigrants, Roma, those with differ-

ent religious beliefs) is a typical tactic these parties use

to strengthen their position and attract the attention

of outraged voters. The traditional mainstream parties

tend to turn a blind eye to this type of speech and,

even more worrisome, they sit idly by as some Mem-

ber States violate the treaties and directives prohibiting

these behaviours and public statements. It’s safe to say

that there is a certain degree of tolerance on the part of

political parties towards anti-Roma discourse. And once

again, the Roma people find themselves in a situation of

defencelessness.

The Fundación Secretariado Gitano carried out an in-

tense campaign prior to the European Parliamentary

elections held on Sunday May 25th. Through meet-

ings with the main political parties, dissemination of

concrete proposals and the publication of a dossier of

documents, links and pertinent news clippings, we tried

to encourage electoral debate on the situation of the

Roma population in the European context, denounce

racist and hate speech by xenophobic parties running

for election and raise awareness as to the relevant role

played by European institutions, especially the Parlia-

ment and the Commission, in the decisions affecting all

citizens, including the Roma population.

Given the broad representation in the European Parlia-

ment of political parties with very little interest in a plu-

ral, inclusive and democratic Europe, the FSG expressed

its discontent and called on the major parties to keep

the promises they made in their electoral platforms, es-

pecially concerning the inclusion of the Roma popula-

tion, and to not form pacts, under any circumstances,

with parties that defend xenophobic and discriminatory

speech and endanger the European project. We espe-

cially demanded greater forcefulness from our political

representatives in Europe against clearly racist anti-Ro-

ma speech and acts. It is up to the European Parliament

to be the leader in denouncing practices that violate

European treaties and directives. We trust that the new