Key messages

By 2012, FRA produced robust survey data showing the extent of discrimination, poverty and social exclusion of Roma populations across EU countries where the majority of Roma live. In 2013, FRA began research at local level engaging with Roma and local authorities to understand why ‘Roma inclusion efforts’ fail in many cases to produce tangible results, and to explore what works and what doesn’t work for social inclusion at local level, and more importantly, why. This research came at a timely moment, as the European Commission took action to address the results of centuries-old history of Roma persecution, marginalisation and exclusion. This time the action taken by the European Union was not simply part of a broader effort towards inclusive growth.

The EU Framework for national Roma integration strategies highlights that “first of all, Member States need to ensure that Roma are not discriminated against but treated like any other EU citizens with equal access to all fundamental rights as enshrined in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. In addition, action is needed to break the vicious cycle of poverty moving from one generation to the next.” This was followed-up by a Council Recommendation and changes in the legislation of the European Structural and Investment Funds to ensure that they are designed to reach those they intend to support. Against this backdrop, the FRA’s Local Engagement for Roma Inclusion research explored how the realities on the ground reflect the ambitious EU and national aspirations of policies, strategies and funding priorities; and, what could be done to bring about tangible change.

The LERI research, despite very different conditions, historical contexts and current challenges and needs, identified several important themes. Elements of these can be found in each of the 21 locality experiences in the 11 EU Member States.

Trust is essential for the success of any social inclusion action

When working with people who daily experience discrimination, poverty and social exclusion, significant time and effort must be devoted to simply building a climate of trust before any action can begin. This is essential for a good working relationship between local communities, civil society organisations, service providers and local authorities. Many Roma communities were repeatedly disappointed by failed actions in the past, projects and interventions that didn’t lead to tangible improvements in their lives. For these people, managing expectations and building trust is the key to start a successful integration action. Trust can take considerable time to build, and can also be easily shattered. It is important to maintain trust and this can be done by keeping everyone informed, sharing information transparently, and, most importantly, by asking them what they need and what support would be more useful to them.

Participation must be meaningful

Participation is one of the EU’s “Ten Common Basic Principles of Roma inclusion”. But what does this mean in practice? The research found that participation varies in terms of depth and intensity. For example, people may simply be invited to take part in organised meetings or activities; or, going a step further, they may be invited to contribute to making decisions about actions; or they may be asked to participate in implementing actions. Creating a space for people to work together, on an equal level and in meaningful ways, to make compromises and to find common solutions can be difficult to achieve, therefore facilitating this requires experience and skill.

Getting local people interested, let alone involved, in the research was a major challenge. They wanted to know if the research would solve their most pressing problems and at the beginning had little interest in investing time to participate in yet another project that, to them, might feel distant from their daily problems, which in many cases included poverty, unemployment, discrimination and a general lack of opportunities. Agreeing on specific goals and providing concrete results, however small, that are as meaningful as possible to them is a way to ensure participation and to motivate local people and keep them engaged.

Empowering people to claim their rights

There are many ways of empowering people. The LERI research tried to empower the local communities involved by asking them what their needs are, informing them of their rights and how to claim them, and supporting them to become drivers of change. This helped create a space where everyone’s voice could be heard in a respectful way. When people are given an opportunity to engage in dialogue with local authorities, it gives them a better chance to fight for their rights and has the potential to lead to greater emancipation. Local authorities can listen to their citizens’ needs and views, and local residents can develop more realistic expectations. More importantly, the research shows that empowering people can help break the stereotypical image of Roma in perpetual victimhood and encourage them to stand as equals in claiming their share of social development and progress.

Acknowledging and learning from failure

Promising practices are often the focus of efforts to increase the positive impact of projects and policies. But simply sharing best practices in hopes of replicating and up-scaling them nationally is not sufficient to achieve progress. Context matters, and simply replicating one successful project in another locality with very different conditions will not guarantee another success. If there is to be real change on the ground in the situation of Roma, it is essential to understand the elements of success, so that parts of those processes can be transferred into other contexts, even when the local conditions vary widely. Similarly, it is important to acknowledge the various types of challenges that each project or policy faces in its implementation, whether they are financing gaps, community-level tensions, communication issues or even management related problems. Learning from failures is critical to better designing future projects, policies and approaches to Roma inclusion. Furthermore, being honest and open about failures is often lacking, which can hinder constructively searching for ways to overcome these and readjust actions in response to failures. Success can’t be achieved until failure is also acknowledged and overcome.

The research reveals a wealth of knowledge about social inclusion and Roma integration in practice. As many of the individual locality studies highlight, meaningful and tangible change can be achieved, local communities can be empowered and local authorities can become more responsible and effective in working to protect and promote the rights of their local citizens. Moreover, LERI research shows that in order to achieve real change, the realities and specificities of each community have to be taken into account. Participatory processes that empower local citizens to engage in decision making processes can be an important tool in social inclusion processes. Understanding the complexities of social inclusion and exclusion can help to contextualise other existing data and serve as a first step towards addressing the real problems on the ground.

The 21 locality studies each reveal different local contexts, different needs and challenges, different approaches, and different successes. However, they all help to illustrate critical aspects that must be considered if money, resources and efforts are to be better used, and if policies are to be more effective in actually improving the lives of Roma across the EU. The locality studies will complement a comparative analysis of the overall research findings, which can be an important contribution to the mid-term review of the EU Framework for national Roma integration strategies.