Social situation of the Roma and their improved access to the labour market in the EU

The Council adopted the following conclusions on the inclusion of the Roma. The main elements of these conclusions are summarised as follows:

taking account of:

• the report presented by the Commission in its communication of 2 July 2008 which reviewed existing policies and instruments contributing to the inclusion of the Roma people and advocated a more systematic use of such policies and instruments for that purpose;
• the organisation on 16 September 2008 of the first European Roma summit as well as the organisation of the second Equality Summit which provided an opportunity to review the main forms of discrimination often faced by the Roma people in access to education, employment, vocational training and goods and services, and to discuss instruments to combat such discrimination,

the Commission and the Member States are called upon to:

• to take account of the situation of the Roma when designing and implementing policies to defend fundamental rights, combat poverty and discrimination and uphold gender equality, and ensure access to education, housing, health, employment, justice and culture, and where appropriate to identify specific actions for 2009 and 2010 to that end;
• to make better use of the Structural Funds, the Pre-Accession Instrument and the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument to promote the inclusion of the Roma, particularly in the fields of education, housing, health, employment and access to justice and to culture.

The Council also calls on the Commission:

• before the end of the first half of 2010, to submit to it a report on progress made;
• to continue and deepen the discussions and organise a further summit concerning Roma in cooperation with the three presidencies in office from 2010 (Spain, Belgium, Hungary);
• to organise, initially, an exchange of good practice and experience between the Member States in the sphere of inclusion of the Roma, provide analytical support and stimulate cooperation between all parties concerned by Roma issues, including the organisations representing Roma, in the context of an integrated European platform.