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EP Committee debates Roma Strategy report

EP Committee debates Roma Strategy report

2010. 12. 10.

MEP Lívia Járóka (EPP Group), rapporteur of the EU strategy on Roma inclusion presented the main recommendations of her draft report to the Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee yesterday. She emphasized that the strategy had to cover all 27 Member States and that also candidate countries and potential candidates had to be involved in the implementation of its priorities and objectives. According to Járóka, the Commission must fulfil the role of supervising, coordinating and monitoring and the Commission should also annually report on the progress of the Strategy, evaluate the results and submit its updating proposals to the Council.

The Járóka-report also recommends the establishment of a Performance Reserve, by setting aside a certain percentage of unabsorbed cohesion funds explicitly for the implementation of EU strategy on Roma inclusion. According to Járóka, allocating funds on a competitive basis – defined by the criterion how the proposed project or intervention supports and implements the objectives of the Strategy – would provide a decisive incentive for Member States and would create a direct link between the allocation of financing and the production of results. Representatives of the EP's major political groups expressed their support for the initiative and said that they considered the recommendations of the draft report to be the right direction to follow.