E.M.E.R.G.E. - European Mobility Enabling to Reduce th Ground of Exclusion - European Project hosted by Istituto Sturzo in partnership with ESA and FCASEC

Social inclusion beyond the European Year 2010

Society and poeple with disabilities: future challenges for the EU

giovedì, May 26th, 2011

The fight against poverty and exclusion is still a key challenge for EU. The Member States are committed to reinforcing the institutional mechanism adopting an integrated system, considering themes on social inclusion in national-level policies.

Promoting inclusion means to work in order to assure equal treatment between persons irrespective of religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation and to guarantee unquestionable dignity and participation opportunities to all. All the citizens should not be left apart in the personal life and work but actively involved in their community and in the European context.

It also means to act with the aim of making the society truly inclusive and capable of adapting to correspond to the citizens’ concrete rights.

Even if there is an intrinsic solidarity which fully acknowledges the need of adaptations for people with mild disabilities in European societies, people with severe or multiple disabilities need more help in terms of human rights and inclusion. Many disabled people continue to suffer discrimination with regard to the lack of equal recognition before the law and justice. Member States have to remedy these deficiencies including electoral rights.

Compared to the average, people with disabilities have more chance of being poor; around 80 million people with disabilities are poor, including one million deaf people.

In line with what emerged during the European Year for Combating Poverty and social, we need to consider that it is impossible to reduce poverty without integrating people with disabilities in the labor market and to adjust policies supporting incomes in case of disability.

The current systems of education and training do not prevent the dropout among people with disabilities. Its high rate leads to greater social disadvantage and employment especially in this time of economic crisis.

Succeeding in the workplace is still very difficult for people with disabilities, but there are good examples that could show the possibility of a change involving all the EU countries in implementing non-discriminatory and inclusive policies.

An example of this success is the experience of Hungarian Ádám Kósa EPP deputy who oversaw the report on "European strategy on disability 2010-2020. 

An example of this success is the experience of Ádám Kósa, MEP of  PPE, author of the report on EU’s disability strategy 2010-2020.

An interesting interview with Ádám Kósa on problems that disabled people face is published on the European Parliament website here.

European Union between defense of the Treaties and electoral consensus

From 2010 Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion to 2014 Year of European elections

giovedì, March 31st, 2011

The full text of the E.M.E.R.G.E. publication can be read here:

European Union between defense of the Treaties and electoral consensus

Volunteer! Make a difference! Volontari! Facciamo la differenza! Стани доброволец! Дай своя принос! Oferă te voluntar! Schimbă ceva!

giovedì, January 20th, 2011

The year 2011 is dedicated to the people that give their spare time to others, to those working unpaid to improve the life of a person or the community, to all the people hoping for a more democratic and inclusive growth.

After long debates and thanks to the requests made by the associations working in the volunteering field, on 22nd of January 2010 the European Council published on the Official Journal the decision that stated: “Volunteering is one of the most important dimensions of democracy and active citizenship, where the European values such as solidarity and not-discrimination become a reality and for that reason will contribute to the harmonious development of European societies. "

The European Year is one of the activities promoted by ONU for the tenth anniversary of International Year of Volunteers (IVY). All the coordinating bodies have planned their activities referring to the Manifesto of European Volunteering.

An important role is going to be played by civil organizations operating in the volunteering field. For these reasons the local impact will be very strong due to the engagement of private and public stakeholders in the building of a new social reality.

The European Year aims to raise awareness and encourage as many people as possible to volunteer and give their own contribution to the building of a better society.
The Year’s goals are:
- facilitating voluntary activities overcoming current obstacles;
- strengthening and supporting the organizations improving their working coditions;
- encouraging the involvement of citizens recognizing, for example, the competencies acquired during the volunteer activities;
- raising public awareness about volunteering.

More of 20% of European citizens are involved in volunteering activities and they consider it as a basic element of democratic life, that enables to foster social connections, to make a contribution to the welfare and, at the same time, acquiring new skills.
The European Year of volunteering aims at increasing the relationship between the organizations working on local and European level, in order to create a stronger and a larger network of solidarity, able to involve new sectors, such as, for example, sports.
A National Agency will coordinate all the planned activities, and will be the reference for any kind of information for the volunteer and the people who wish to undertake a volunteer experience.
The programme of events planned in the European offices and major cities of Member States, is crowded with appointments.
A team of volunteers along with a group of shifting volunteer reporters, like in a relay race, are going to spend 10 days meeting social operators and politicians in each country of the Member States. At the end they will publishing all articles and audiovisual services done around Europe on the media.
Four thematic conferences will be organized on the key issues of volunteering.
(The program is available at http://europa.eu/volunteering/it/home2).
Although the lack of social policies, the economic crisis involving all member states and the impact that this had on the citizens’ life and on the social organizations, the 2010 European year combating poverty and social exclusion and 2011 Year of Volunteering, demonstrate the will and the need, at European level, to fill a void of conscience and to restore a shared sense of cohesion and solidarity for the common wellbeing.

Citizens initiative, a challenge to change social Europe

New participatory instruments to ask for new European law. Citizens, stakeholders, Ngo's and political parties will be able to use another tool to stand up their voice inside the EU institutions

mercoledì, November 17th, 2010

"Freedom is involvement" Italian folk-singer Giorgio Gaber used to sing. Involvement could also mean freedom and wish to play an active role within the public European sphere thanks a new participatory democracy tool. Our vote to the European Elections won't be anymore the exclusive way to participate to the European institutions’ life. The Lisbon Treaty (article 11 TEU and article 24 TFEU) introduces a new form of public involvement in European Union, the so called "European citizens initiative". This tool enables at least one million citizens who are nationals of a still undetermined number of Member States to call directly on the European Commission to bring forward an initiative of interest to them in an area of EU competence. The right to petition to the European Parliament differs substantially to the new "initiative". European citizens will be able to sign a political document to urge European Commission to prepare a law proposal.
It is now necessary to wait that European Institutions will define the operational aspects of this new instrument. Considered the importance of this new tool for citizens, civil society and stakeholders, the Commission carried out a broad public consultation on the basis of a green paper in order to seek the opinions of all interested parties on how the citizens' initiative should work in practice. The Commission adopted a proposal on March. This is the basis to begin negotiations with the European Parliament and the Council. The goal is the adoption of a specific Regulation. The effectiveness will also depend on the answers of this Regulation to various points that are still object of negotiations: minimum number of EU countries, minimum number of signatories per country, minimum age of signatories, form and wording, rules on collecting, verifying and authenticating, time limit for collecting, rules on transparency and a possible time limit for Commission response. The citizens initiative system should become operational during the first six months of 2011.

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Roma people repatriations seen from Bucharest

Towards the social inclusion of Roma people

domenica, October 17th, 2010

"Roma, Gypsies … It is extremely important. I have come to realize that, politically speaking, Romania has made a terrible mistake when it changed the name of this minority from Gypsies into Roma. No one is intentionally supporting the confusion. It was our political decision, but the confusion happens often and at the moment, many of the European citizens are confused whether Roma means all the Romanian people, that is 22 million or just one ethnic group" Traian Basescu told for RRA (Romanian Radio Broadcasting ).
"They have this culture to travel from one place to another. In order to take decisions of financial support of nomads’ integration process, politicians must not be contested by their own folk. It is different when French, Germans, British politicians stated: we have to integrate half a million nomad Gypsies and another where the taxpayer says that we must integrate 22 million Romanians. We are speaking here of an ethnic group and Romania is supporting this group. We cannot condone the French government’s decision,” the head of state added.
“Without deviating from the obligations that Romania has for its citizens, there is a shared European responsibility to resolve the Roma problems” stated Emil Boc in the discussion he had last week with the French Minister for Immigration, Integration and National Identity, Eric Besson and the Secretary of State for European Affairs, Pierre Lellouche.

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Free movement of workers or increase of social exclusion?

The case of Romanian care workers living in Italy

giovedì, October 7th, 2010

Dora is a Romanian care worker who has a sad story to tell. Thanks to the web archive www.storiemigranti.org we can listen to her voice. When she decided to emigrate to Italy in order to find a job, the help of a cousin was necessary for the placement to be organised. Dora was put in contact with a Sardinian family needing assistance for a very old “grandfather” and then started a regular job as a care worker. When the cousin requested money for the “service”, Dora was happy to have the chance to thank him for such a great opportunity. Unfortunately, these requests did not stop and Dora discovered to be exploited – with violence – by a member of her family. Furthermore, when she started to have a social life and to go out, always in the restricted periods of free time given to a care worker, something new happened. She was accused by her employer to attend the night clubs, “as the Romanian women regularly do”. This was not true. Her short Italian adventure had come to an unpredictable and dramatic end. Dora experienced social exclusions at two levels. At family level, she was exploited as a woman – a hard worker easy to sell and to rob. At social level, she was offended as a member of a national community with a negative reputation in the Italian society. Furthermore, a second victim of social exclusion should be mentioned. The old “grandfather” was suddenly deprived of a person having assisted him with respect and care.

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The Western Balkans European prospects:

has the Sarajevo conference pushed forward a “new deal” between EU and Balkans?

lunedì, September 20th, 2010

The international conference held in Sarajevo on 2 June was organized by the rotating presidency of the EU, currently held by Spain, in order to solemnly reaffirm the European prospects of the Balkan countries and to present the economic and political advances they have made with a view to their future integration. The main purpose of this conference from the EU side was to reaffirm the desire to integrate the Western Balkans into the EU and will reassert the place of the region in Europe. In this region the EU has spent many efforts to achieve stabilization and modernization, both economic and political and has invested different resources, including military units, police and judges to help build security structures based on the European standards. A vast bulk of steps and passages are included in a decade-old process to bring the former Yugoslav republics closer to the EU. The conference of Sarajevo was organized ten years after the Zagreb meeting and seven years after the Thessaloniki summit.

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Discrimination on the basis of ethnic origin or race has no place in Europe

Commissioner Reding announces infringement action against France for a discriminatory application of the Free Movement Directive

venerdì, September 17th, 2010

An extraordinary political conflict between the European Commission and the French Government is taking place in this summer of 2010, European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion. On the 14th of September Ms Vivian Reding, Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship Statement, attacked the Sarkozy government over the mass expulsions of Roma people and accused it of duplicity in its dealings with Brussels. “I personally have been appalled by a situation which gave the impression that people are being removed from a Member State of the European Union just because they belong to a certain ethnic minority” said Commissioner Reding. “This is a situation –she added – I had thought Europe would not have to witness again after the Second World War.”

The reference to deportations in the 1940s facilitated the hard reaction of the French Government. President Sarkozy invited the Commissioner to welcome Roma people in Luxembourg. The comments of Pierre Lellouche, the French European affairs minister, were more articulated. "The tone she took … is not the manner one uses to address a great state like France, which is the mother of human rights" he told French radio. "We are not the naughty pupil of the class whom the teacher tells off and we are not the criminal before the prosecutor."
The point of view of Commissioner Reding is more institutional. After having reminded a contradiction between the political assurances that specific ethnic groups had not been targeted in France and the administrative circular mentioning the Roma people as target group of the expulsions, the Commissioner underlines that “The role of the Commission as guardian of the Treaties is made extremely difficult if we can no longer have confidence in the assurances given by two ministers in a formal meeting with two Commissioners and with around 15 senior officials on the table from both sides.”

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Is 2010 the European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion?

Roma expulsion policy of the French Government goes in the opposite direction

lunedì, September 13th, 2010

About 1000 Romanian and Bulgarian Roma people (Gypsies) were expelled from France and around 100 Roma camps were destroyed in the last two months. The most recent expulsion wave to Bulgaria was in the end of August. It was part of the French campaign of clearing illegal Roma camps, a phase of a security crackdown announced by the French president Mr. Sarkozy. It is interesting to point out that this year is the European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion. So is this the way to cope with one of the most marginalized minority groups in Europe?
The Vatican and the UN criticized France about the actions it took. The EU parliament started discussions on the Roma issue on 06.09.2010. The European Commission also expressed its criticism regarding the French initiative.
The spokesperson of the Commission, Michele Cercone said that the Commission has already taken actions for the integration of the ethnical minorities in the EU member states: “The European Commission is bound by the serious task of improving the Roma situation. We have to make sure that all member states abide by the anti-discrimination legislation.”

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Roma population, a Romanian or a European problem?

The risk of social exclusion of Roma minority

venerdì, September 10th, 2010

The PDL (Democratic Liberal Party) deputy Adrian Gurzău announced he will initiate a law to prohibit the use of the name Rom instead of Gypsy arguing that the appellation Rom harms the Romanians abroad.
«Regarding the name of Rom, I will propose in the Romanian Parliament a law to forbid the use of the appellation Rom instead of Gypsy, in order to remove confusion between the two names (Rom and Romanian), confusion which has often brought harm to Romanians abroad », says a press release of the deputy.
Gurzău argues that the name Rom is a « conventional one, recently established and has no historical argumentation».
«The other European nations call the Roma population Gypsies (using words having the same root with Gypsy: Gitan (fr.) Gipsy (en.), Gitano (sp.), Tiganski (bg.), Tîgan (rus.), Zigeuner (ger.) etc. In linguistic formulas of their traditional culture the term Rom « does not exist », says the PDL deputy, arguing that even « the choice of the name Rom only in the case of the Gypsies in Romania is deliberately chosen to leave room for confusion» .
«I must clearly specify that I make this legislative proposal as a mean of protection for the Romanians who could be affected by ill-treatment and discrimination in the countries hostile to Gypsies, unfairly. As a Romanian deputy I consider it is my duty to defend the Romanians against possible discrimination, especially when history says we are right », is also mentioned in Gurzău’s press release.

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