Columbia International Affairs Online: Working Papers

CIAO DATE: 05/2014

Education in Member State Submissions under the EU Framework for National Roma Integration Strategies

Eben Friedman

December 2013

European Centre for Minority Issues

Abstract

At the level of design, a key weakness of the EU Framework is that some of the means proposed in the area of education risk compromising realization of the corresponding objectives and in turn the overall goal of ensuring that all children complete at least primary school. Moreover, although the education objectives included in the EU Framework can be expected to contribute to realization of the overall goal and to improving the situation of Roma in the area of education more broadly, a neglect of Romani girls' disadvantage in this area relative to their male counterparts constitutes a missed opportunity to promote attention to a set of particularly pressing issues for both overall goal and general situation. Additionally, while completion of primary school may well be a necessary condition for the social inclusion of Roma, it cannot be expected to effect the changes in Roma's employment situation needed to secure a level of economic integration conducive to greater social cohesion.