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

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.

What kind of help is a constructive kind of help?

Exchange of ideas between E.M.E.R.G.E. researchers Elena Kirova and Federica Chiezzi

Elena Kirova (Bulgaria): "Sofia is a beautiful city. The streets are often covered with holes (that become craters in the winter months), traffic jams during business hours on Mon-Fri can be real bad, parking spots are a scarce, but what really makes it a horrible experience when driving on the streets of Sofia are the people who stay at the traffic lights waiting for the red signal to ambush your car and racket you for your money.
In this article I’m going to open a topic for a debate on an issue that affects a large percent of the drivers in Europe. It may at first sound insignificant, but as we go further into the issue, I believe we could find some general problems with social integration rooted in the following scenario.
This is how it usually happens:
1. A driver stops at an intersection.
2. A windshield cleaning “professional” comes to offer the service.
3. The driver politely or not so politely declines the service.
4. The cleaning professional performs the service.
5. The driver feeling intimidated and not wanting to enter a confrontation gives a small amount of money in return.
6. Cleaner accepts and repeats.
Many cities are already taking action against what is seen as pure form of racket and exploitation of minors. In Florence it is now illegal to clean the windscreens of cars waiting at traffic lights. The act of Florence city officials was prompted by citizens’ complaints of window-washers "becoming more aggressive, especially to women alone in their cars." The first patrol which resulted in 15 people being charged was led by Florence police Chief Alessandro Bartolini. "There are no more on the streets. Word has got around, apparently," Bartolini said.
The people that are performing this type of cleaning service fall in the poor and socially excluded category. In Bulgaria, the majority of them are Gypsies. For most of them it is their only source of income. If we take this venture out of their hands does it mean that we will exclude them even more from the society and make them poorer? 

Federica Chiezzi (Italy): As in Florence, also in Rome, from the 1st of November 2009, window-washers, jugglers and hawkers are strictly forbidden to walk through the city streets and offer any kind of services. The “first citizen” Gianni Alemanno issued and signed new measures to eliminate illegal services performed by those people which can both disturb and bother drivers. Alemanno set the imposition of a fine of 100 euro for those who don’t respect that ordinance.

COUNCIL OF EUROPE SLAMS ITALY’S TREATMENT OF ROMA

The Council of Europe, based in Strasbourg (France), now covers virtually the entire European continent, with 47 member countries. Founded on 5 May 1949 by 10 countries, the Council of Europe seeks to develop throughout Europe common and democratic principles based on the European Convention on Human Rights and other reference texts on the protection of individuals. Even if not belonging to the European Union, it is often mistaken for one of its bodies.

Recently, the Council of Europe’s European Committee of Social Rights found Italy to have violated the rights of its Roma population. The Committee found Italy in violation of the prohibition on discrimination and violations of the rights of Roma people to adequate housing; social, legal and economic protection; protection against poverty and social exclusion; and the right of migrant Roma families to protection and assistance. The Committee said that Roma camps have been destroyed and their inhabitants illegally evicted and expelled from Italy, often without notice and without the option of alternative housing. Many camps in various regions throughout Italy have also been the target of arson or vandalism based on racial hatred. The perpetrators of these crimes are rarely prosecuted or even investigated by local authorities.

The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe announced the ruling in the case brought against Italy by the Geneva-based international human rights organization the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) and the Italian organization OsservAzione. The organizations accused Italy of violations of the Revised European Social Charter. The ground-breaking decision in COHRE v. Italy finds Italy guilty of policies and practices that have left Roma residents living in segregated and grossly inadequate housing conditions. The mass expulsion of non-Italian Roma who are citizens of other EU countries has increased dramatically in Italy since following the formation of a new national government in 2008.

Roma settlement in Torino, Italy (2008 © COHRE)

This decision will reverberate throughout Europe, as it establishes new jurisprudence confirming that the mass expulsion of migrants is a violation of the Revised European Social Charter,” said Bret Thiele, COHRE’s Senior Expert for Litigation and Legal Advocacy. “This is very relevant to the current situation of Roma in France, and the French government needs to take serious note of this as the recent evictions and deportations of Roma in France place the government in violation of the European Social Charter too.”

The Italian delegation to the meeting of the Committee of Ministers of the Council reacted to the ruling, pledging to the Committee to “ensure the effective implementation of the rights deriving from the Revised European Social Charter for every individual, including for persons belonging to the Roma communities.” Salih Booker, COHRE’s Executive Director, said that “COHRE and its Italy-based partner, OsservAzione, will continue to monitor the housing rights situation of Roma in Italy to ensure that the Italian authorities live up to this commitment.”

France and Italy seem to be countries “under surveillance” in this period. A delegation of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) visited Italy from 21 to 26 November 2010 as the first step in the preparation of a monitoring report. During its visit, ECRI’s delegation gathered information on the implementation of the recommendations it made to the authorities in its previous report of 2006 and discussed new issues that had emerged since. The delegation held meetings in Rome, Venice, Padua and Naples with representatives of all relevant ministries, public officials, human rights NGOs and minority groups. Following this visit, ECRI will adopt a report in which it will make a fresh set of recommendations on measures to be taken by the authorities to address racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, antisemitism and intolerance in the country. Among these, three will be revisited two years after the publication of the report as part of an interim follow-up procedure.

In the meanwhile the European Parliament – the elective institution of the European Union with a much higher level of political representation than the Council of Europe – is expressing a very similar position. The hearing by the Civil Liberties Committee on 30 November – 1 December brought together all those involved and affected by the EU's "Strategy on Roma inclusion". Hungarian MEP Lívia Járóka has just drafted a report on the strategy and the issues involved. It formed a basis for much of the debate. France and Italy were criticised by Lívia Járóka herself and civil society organisations for their treatment of the Roma. Ms Marilisa Fantacci from French organisation "Collectif des Roms en Europe" reported that nothing had changed since the summer and Roma are still being expelled from France. "We wonder how in these conditions France can develop an inclusion strategy" she asked.

The European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion is going to be concluded but the strategy on Roma inclusion will remain in the European political agenda.

Sources:

COHRE

Council of Europe

European Parliament

Roma people repatriations seen from Bucharest

Towards the social inclusion of Roma people

"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

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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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

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

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

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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Bulgaria’s contribution to the European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion

Initiatives and projects with Bulgarian participation in regard with the European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion

After the official launch of the European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion on 22nd February in Sofia, Bulgaria has been relatively proactive in its agenda for raising awareness of the issues of social exclusion and dynamic promotion of ideas concerning projects related to the Year. Since the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy is the institution responsible for implementation of activities in regard with the Year, its Minister – Totyu Mladenov presented the specific national goals in the context of the main European common objectives and principles of the Year. The amount of over € 500,000 for the Year is provided by the state budget and the budget of the European Union. The priority thematic areas for Bulgaria during the 2010 Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion are: fighting child poverty; promoting inclusive labor market; equal access to services, culture and sport; overcoming the discrimination of vulnerable ethnic groups; social inclusion of people with disabilities; and gender mainstreaming.

One of the most recent projects advertised by the Bulgarian Ministry of labor and social policy is the “In Search of Solidarity” photo competition which is devoted to combating poverty and social exclusion in 2010. The aim of this contest is to promote a society which supports and improves the quality of life, social well-being and equal opportunities for every single person. Every contestant has to put together a documentary containing 3 to 6 images illustrating the initiatives taken in order to help and improve the condition of the most disadvantaged groups of the population. That is how the ordinary citizen can contribute to the fight against poverty and social exclusion in his area, town or region in the scope of this photo competition.
 

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FEMINIZATION OF POVERTY IN EUROPE

A well-known phenomenon in a slightly modified form

2010 is the European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion. Poverty and social exclusion are two interconnected, interdependent and extremely complex social phenomena that cannot be comprehensively defined within a whole book, not to mention within a single article. Poverty is the more traditional term, commonly perceived in strictly economic sense, which seems to constantly evolve and include more aspects. Social exclusion is a relatively new concept that has a multidimensional nature, including, again, a focus on the economic status of the individual. Even after recognizing the complexity of the two issues, we still need to admit the priority of the economic aspects in both phenomena. In this line of thinking, we also need to recall another social-economic phenomenon that has been widely discussed at EU level and that is still observed, especially in times of crisis. This phenomenon is directly linked to social exclusion in its definition as “each type of societal disadvantage” and is definitely related to poverty. Formulation of the cause-and-effect links, though, would be far more difficult. This phenomenon is traditionally known as “gender discrimination” and it can also be widely discussed in view of the various aspects of its manifestations. However, having in mind that 2010 is announced the year to fight poverty and social exclusion, let us concentrate on one single, but significant enough, aspect of gender inequality, which has evolved and been defined as a separate phenomenon itself – “feminization of poverty”.

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