Rights of the Roma in the European Union

The European Union is committed to upholding Human Rights and sees this as a core and essential part of its role. As such the EU seeks to protect and defend these rights within member states and in interactions with non-members.

The Roma are one of the largest minority group within the EU numbering over six million people. Despite their number they have faced a long history of systematic abuse and significant marginalization within Europe. Reports on the situation of the Roma within Europe have found that they remain one of the most vulnerable minorities and still fall significantly behind their European counterparts in regards to education, employment, access to health care and housing.

The EU recognizes that there are issues of human rights violations relating to the treatment and integration of the Roma within the EU and have taken steps to encourage each member state to take responsibility and work towards greater Roma inclusion specifically in the areas of health, housing, education and employment and non-discrimination at a policy, police and social level.

Antiziganism has resulted in a long history of persecution of the Roma people. From the time of their initial migration in the 11th or 12th century they have faced mistrust, abuse, slavery, and general discrimination. This reached a peak during the Second World War where a large number of Roma faced genocide at the hands of the Nazis in the Porajmos (Roma Holocaust).

Since World War Two the continued migration of the Roma from Eastern Europe to the rest of Europe has resulted in continued discrimination and marginalization often stemming from misunderstanding, fear and systematic abuse.

Under the Lisbon treaty the European Union was given an extra degree of force and ability to address issues of human rights violations within its member states.

The Lisbon treaty came into force on the 1 December 2009 and with it the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights became legally binding, having the same force as primary EU law and making it the primary source of human rights law within the European Union. This was a significant step for the EU’s ability to ensure human rights are maintained within member state s and allows the EU courts to strike down legislation that was not consistent with the Human Rights charter

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Wikipedia