Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-09-07-Speech-2-345"
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"en.20100907.28.2-345"2
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"Mr President, I am glad that the EU institutions appear so sensitive to the plight of the Roma today. For that very reason, it is a pity that policy makers on all sides of the political spectrum seem to use the Roma issue as a weapon against their counterparts.
We all agree that freedom of movement is one of the fundamental principles of Community law, and accept that this right is not unconditional. As the Commission has confirmed, all EU countries have the right to take security measures regarding foreigners residing on their territory. The core values of the European Union, such as non-discrimination, tolerance and solidarity, must be fully respected, and the expulsion of any EU citizens must be implemented on a case-by-case basis on the grounds of proper judicial decisions, or with the free, complete and informed consent of all the individuals concerned. To quote the Commission again, ‘nobody should face expulsion just for being a Roma’.
Political opinions and legal judgments are separate issues. We might find these expulsions distasteful or far-fetched, and we must draw attention to the safeguards and principles to be acted upon, but judging the legitimacy of the measures taken by France is the sole responsibility of the Commission. Large-scale repatriations might be repulsive, but are even more repulsive given the empty human rights lip-service of recent decades when technically, nothing was done to alleviate the terrible poverty of the Roma, except for the chanting of a few cold words about anti-discrimination and tolerance when it became politically handy.
We, the European Roma, reject the political misuse and misinterpretation of our issues. The Roma must set the discourse about themselves to reveal the problems and to articulate what actions and measures have to be taken. As proclaimed several times by this Parliament, and more specifically by the European People’s Party, the poverty and social exclusion of the Roma is a European issue and requires a strategy of its own; a common European solution is needed for a common European problem.
That strategy must tackle the economic features of the social exclusion of Roma and non-Roma alike, such as structural unemployment, low qualifications, dwelling in seriously disadvantaged micro-regions and barriers to self-employment – all the issues which our people are escaping from when they migrate."@en1
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