Recommendation 1924 (2010) Final version

The situation of Roma in Europe and relevant activities of the Council of Europe

Author(s): Parliamentary Assembly

Origin - Assembly debate on 22 June 2010 (22nd Sitting) (see Doc. 12174, report of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, rapporteur: Mr Berényi; Doc. 12207, opinion of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Population, rapporteur: Mrs Memecan; and Doc. 12236, opinion of the Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men, rapporteur: Mrs Kovács). Text adopted by the Assembly on 22 June 2010 (22nd Sitting).

1. The Parliamentary Assembly, referring to its Resolution 1740 (2010) on the situation of Roma in Europe and relevant activities of the Council of Europe, underlines that the situation of Roma is a general problem that affects every Council of Europe member state. It considers the issue to be crucial enough for the Council of Europe to increase its involvement in this field by reinforcing the visibility of its existing activities and so avoiding its acquis being diluted or misinterpreted.

2. The Council of Europe, which has been a pioneer in promoting the protection of Roma, should renew its impetus in its long-standing commitment to ensure greater protection and social integration of Roma.

3. While welcoming the fact that a thematic debate was held during the Spanish Chair (November 2008-May 2009), the Assembly invites the Committee of Ministers to:

3.1. keep the issue of the situation of Roma in Europe high on its agenda;

3.2. when dealing with Roma issues, pay special attention to the situation of Roma women and girls, who face double, if not triple discrimination: as Roma, discrimination by the wider community, and as women and girls, discrimination by both the wider and their own community;

3.3. allocate a structural post and an office for the Council of Europe Co-ordinator for activities concerning Roma and Travellers, to enable her/him to play her/his role as an adviser to the Secretary General, as well as to efficiently co-ordinate the Organisation’s activities;

3.4. set up a thematic co-ordinator within the Committee of Ministers, following the successful experience of the Thematic Co-ordinator on Children;

3.5. enhance its co-operation in this respect with other international organisations, in particular in the framework of the Informal Contact Group of International Organisations and Institutions dealing with issues concerning Roma, Sinti and Travellers;

3.6. enhance efforts aimed at the speedy ratification, by member states which have not yet done so, of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (ETS No. 157), the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ETS No. 148) and Protocol No. 12 to the European Convention on Human Rights (ETS No. 177).