Fokus ROMI.HR

Danas je budućnost Europske unije nesigurnija nego ikada prije. Posljednjih nekoliko godina su bile vrlo izazovne zbog Brexita i neposluha nekih drugih država članica vlastima u Bruxellesu, te pandemije koja još uvijek traje. Budući da danas slavimo 29. godišnjicu osnivačkog Ugovora o EU, poznatog kao Ugovor iz Maastrichta, nade u snažnu i ujedinjenu Europu polako nestaju. Unatoč tome, ovaj Ugovor o Europskoj uniji  je oblikovao trenutno ustrojstvo Unije. Uvođenje eura kao zajedničke valute i europskog državljanstva su među glavnim postignućima ovog Ugovora.

Državljanstvo EU nije  isprazan koncept, nego dodjeljuje niz ključnih prava građanjima EU. Na primjer, prema Povelji o temeljnim pravima "Svaki građanin Unije ima pravo slobodno se kretati i boraviti na području država članica." Pored slobode kretanja, svaki Europljanin ima pravo glasa na lokalnim izborima i na izborima za Europski Parlament, bez obzira gdje živi. Općenito, takvo državljanstvo podrazumijeva da bi svaki građanin trebao uživati ​​ljudska prava, koja su srž europskih vrijednosti.

Dakle, Romi u Europi trebali bi moći uživati ​​ista prava kao i svaki drugi europski građanin. Nažalost, ovo načelo ostaje uglavnom mrtvo slovo na papiru na mnogim područjima jer se Romi u većini zemalja suočavaju sa stalnom diskriminacijom. Nekoliko incidenata je pokazalo da se Rome u Europi često smatraju građanima drugog reda, posebno kada je riječ o slobodi kretanja.

Među najrezonantnijim primjerima je val protjerivanja Roma iz Francuske 2010. godine, koji svedoči o poteškoćima s kojima se Romi suočavaju kako bi ostvarili ovo pravo. Nakon napada na policijsku postaju, koji nije imao nikakve veze s Romima, nego s zajednicom tzv. Putnika, predsjednik Nicolas Sarkozy uspostavio je diskriminatorsku politiku rekavši da "Predstavnik države u svakom departmanu mora organizirati (...) sustavno uklanjanje nezakonitih kampova, posebno onih koje koriste Romi". Štoviše, svaki predstavnik države dobio je naredbu da provede najmanje jednu akciju tjedno. Takva sramotna politika kršila je međunarodno pravo i ključna načela Francuske Republike.

S obzirom na ozbiljna kršenja prava prouzročena ovom odlukom, Povjerenica Europske unije za Europske zajednice Viviane Reding usporedila je djelovanje francuske vlade prema Romima s nacističkom politikom prema Židovima tokom Drugog svjetskog rata. Reding je izjavila da je takva diskriminacija na temelju etničke pripadnosti potpuno neprihvatljiva u EU. Druga tijela poput Vijeća Europe ili Vijeća Ujedinjenih naroda za ljudska prava također su osudila Sarkozyjev pristup.

Nakon curenja nekoliko dokumenata koji dokazuju primjenu etničkih kriterija u ovoj politici, francuska vlada prestala je u dokumentima spominjati Rome, pokušavajući spasiti obraz. Unatoč tom pokušaju, Europska komisija je pokrenula postupak protiv Francuske, tvrdeći da Francuska nije u potpunosti prenijela Direktivu o slobodnom kretanju iz 2004. godine u svoje nacionalno zakonodavstvo. Francuske vlasti su to konačno učinile neposredno prije roka koji je odredila Komisija, stavljajući točku na sukob s institucijama EU kroz popuštanje svojih politika.

Francuska nije jedina zemlja koja provodi takve politike. Talijanska vlada na čelu s Silviom Berlusconijem, 2008. godine, uvela je odredbu o “nomadskom izvanrednom stanju“ prema kojoj se nezakonita naselja Roma u velikim gradskim područjima smatraju prijetnjom za javni red i sigurnost. Prisilna iseljavanja koja su uslijedila također su izazvala oštre kritike od strane vlasti EU. Općenito, zemlje EU sklone su usvajati politike u skladu s međunarodnim pravom, ali koriste ograničenja i tumačenja zakona kako bi diskriminirale Rome i druge manjine.

Migracijski tokovi Roma prema Zapadnoj Europi su se drastično povećali nakon pridruživanja niza zemalja Srednje i Istočne Europe EU 2004. i 2007. godine. Doista, većina Roma žive na Balkanu. Tokom druge polovine 20. stoljeća, niz zemalja na ovom području je bio pod komunističkim režimom, nalazeći se u teritorijalnoj izolaciji karakterističnom za takve sustave. Međutim, sve se promijenilo krajem stoljeća s usponom nacionalističkih vlada. Tada se položaj Roma globalno pogoršao porastom diskriminacije u ovim zemljama. Niz faktora je doprinio pogoršanju njihovog položaja u društvu poput raspada sustava socijalne pomoći, nižeg prosječnog stupnja obrazovanja i uspon nacionalizma. Iako je ekonomski položaj Roma u socijalističkim državama bio daleko od sjajnog, raspad državne ekonomije i politike pune zaposlenosti bio je katastrofalan za Rome koji nisu bili spremni za konkurenciju na slobodnom tržištu rada. Unatoč sporom poboljšanju polozaja Roma u većini bivših socijalističkih zemalja tokom posljednjeg desetljeća, mnogi Romi tražili su i još uvijek traže bolju budućnost u inozemstvu, na primjer u Zapadnoj Europi.

Pravo na slobodu kretanja ide uz određene uvjete. Kako bi zakonito ostali u zemlji članici EU, potrebno je biti radnik, obrazovati se ili imati dovoljno sredstava da ne ovise o socijalnoj pomoći. U mnogim slučajevima Romi migranti ne ispunjavaju jedan od ovih preduvjeta kad dolaze u zemlju odredišta. Uskraćen im je pristup socijalnoj pomoći unatoč politici integracije koju provodi EU. Zapravo, politika integracije ne rješava probleme romskih migranata. Zemlje koje primaju izbjeglice optužuju zemlje podrijetla zalažući se za stvaranje mjera zaštite koje bi spriječavale takvu migraciju. S druge strane, države podrijetla uvelike koriste planove namjenjene za integraciju izbjeglica kao način kako bi pokazale svoju dobronamjernost po tom pitanju, ali bez stvarnog ulaganja u poboljšanje položaja Roma.

Kao što pokazuju primjeri ograničenja slobode kretanja Roma u Europi, EU još uvijek mora osigurati da svi građani ostvare temeljne slobode. Romi i mnoge druge manjine se još uvijek suočavaju s redovitim kršenjem svojih prava u Europi. Takva se situacija mora promijeniti. Složeni sustav interakcije između država članica i institucija EU je izazov za provedbu tako ambicioznog projekta. Međutim, gotovo 30 godina nakon Ugovora iz Maastrichta, došlo je vrijeme da EU prevladati poteškoće i dobije novi poticaj.

“It is somewhat ironic that of all EU citizens a group such as the Roma, so often associated in the popular imagination with mobility and nomadism, should be denied the EU citizenship rights that require the mobility of citizens.”

PARKER, O. (2012). Roma and the Politics of EU Citizenship in France: Everyday Security and Resistance

Nowadays, the future of the European Union is more uncertain than ever. The last few years proved to be challenging with the Brexit and the defiance of some other Member States towards Brussels’ authorities, as well as the ongoing pandemic. As we celebrate the 29th anniversary of the founding Treaty of the EU, known as the Maastricht Treaty, hopes of a strong and united Europe is fading away. Nonetheless, this Treaty establishing the EU modelled the current organisation of the Union. Among the main realisations achieved thanks to the Treaty are the creation of the Euro as a common currency, but also the European citizenship.

This new citizenship is not a hollow concept but enforces some key rights of the European population. For example, according to the Charter of Fundamental Rights, “Every citizen of the Union has the right to move and reside freely within the territory of the Member States.” In addition to this freedom of circulation, every European can vote for Municipal Elections as well as the elections of the European Parliament no matter where he lives. More generally, such citizenship means that every citizen should enjoy Human Rights, which are the core of European values.

Thus, Roma of Europe should be able to enjoy the same rights as every other European citizen. Unfortunately, this principle remains theoretical in many territories as Roma are facing constant discrimination in most countries. Several incidents proved that Roma are often considered as second-class citizen in Europe, especially when it comes to freedom of movement.

Among the most controversial examples, the wave of eviction in France in 2010 is illustrating the difficulties of Roma to enjoy this right. Following the attack of a police station, which had nothing to do with Roma but rather with the Travelers’ community, President Nicolas Sarkozy set up a discriminatory policy stating that "It is down to the state representative in each department to organise (….) the systematic dismantling of the illegal camps, particularly those occupied by the Roma.“ Moreover, each State representative was ordered to conduct at least one action per week. Such a shameful policy was violating both the international law and key principles of the French Republic.

Considering the serious violations of rights caused by this decision, the European Union Commissioner for European Communities, Viviane Reding, compared the action of the French government towards Roma with the Nazi one regarding Jews during the Second World War. She claimed that such discrimination based on ethnic belonging was completely unacceptable in the EU. Other bodies such as the Council of Europe or the United Nations Human Rights Council also condemned Sarkozy’s approach.

Following the leak of several documents proving the use of ethnic criteria in this policy, the French government removed references to Roma people, trying to save face. Despite this attempt, the Commission launched a procedure against France, arguing that the country did not fully transpose the 2004 Directive on free movement into its national legislation. France’s authorities finally did it just before the deadline fixed by the Commission, putting an end to the clash with EU Institutions by easing the government’s policy.

France is not the only country to blame for such an approach. In Italy for example, the government led by Silvio Berlusconi declared a “nomad emergency” decree in 2008 considering the illegal settlements of Roma in main urban areas as a threat for public order and security. The forced evictions that followed were also highly criticized by EU authorities. More generally, EU countries tend to adopt a policy in line with international law but use limits and interpretation of laws to discriminate Roma as well as other minorities.

The migration flow of Roma towards Western Europe increased drastically following the adhesion of many Central and Eastern European countries to the EU in 2004 and 2007. Indeed, most Roma are living in Balkans. During the second half of the 20th century, countries of the area were under a communist regime, with the territorial lockdown characteristic of these systems. However, everything changed by the end of the century with the rise of nationalist governments. Then, the situation of Roma globally worsened with an increase of discrimination in these countries. Many factors participated to their deteriorated position in society, such as the collapse of the social support system, a lower level of education on average, but also being an ethnic minority in nationalist countries. While the economic situation of Roma was far from being great in socialist States, the end of a state-run economy and full-employment policy was disastrous for Roma. Despite a slow improvement of their situation in most former socialist countries during the last decade, many Roma were and are still looking for a better future abroad, like in Western Europe.

The right to free movement itself goes along some conditions. To stay legally in a member country, it is necessary to be a worker, or to be enrolled in education or to have enough resources not to depend on social assistance. In many cases, Roma migrants do not fulfil one of these prerequisites when they arrive in their destination country. Thus, they remain excluded from decent social conditions despite the integration plans drafted by the EU. Indeed, these lasts usually fail to address the question of Roma migrants. In general, the receiving countries are blaming the countries of origin, advocating for a safety net to reduce such migrations. On the other side, the States of origin tend to use the integration plans as a tool to show their goodwill on that issue, without really investing to improve the situation of Roma.

As illustrated by the limitations to the freedom of movement of Roma in Europe, the EU still needs to ensure that key freedoms are enjoyed by everyone. Roma and many other minorities are still facing regular violations of their rights in Europe. This situation should change. The complex system of interaction between Member States and EU institutions is a challenge to implement such an ambitious project. However, almost 30 years after the Maastricht Treaty, the time has come for the EU to go beyond difficulties and to find a new impulse.