Resource information
A disproportionately large number of
Roma in Europe today face deep poverty, social exclusion,
and poor living conditions. Improving these is critical to
achieving the targets of the Europe 2020 Strategy, the
European Union s 10-year growth strategy, which aims to
reduce poverty, social exclusion, early school leaving, and
increase school attainment and employment by 2020. The EU
Framework for National Roma Integration Strategies (NRIS) up
to 2020 calls on the European Commission and the member
states to mobilize existing EU strategies and instruments in
the cause of securing the socioeconomic inclusion of Roma
and invites the member states to make sufficient use of EU
and national funding to address Roma needs. The
implementation and success of the NRIS will very much depend
on an effective and sufficient allocation of national
resources. EU funding alone can certainly not solve the
situation of Roma, but the Commission calls on member states
to make efficient use of the funds. The European Structural
and Investment (ESI) Funds, principally the European Social
Fund (ESF), the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF),
and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development
(EAFRD) generally constitute the EU s main instruments for
supporting member states efforts to improve the lives of
vulnerable people, including the Roma. These funds will be
invested in shared management by the European Commission and
the member states and regions through operational programs
(OPs) that cover a seven year period between 2014 and 2020.
Based on the priorities established in the OPs, the
management authorities invest these funds for projects
mainly on the basis of calls for proposals (CfPs). The
Council of the European Union, through a recommendation on
effective Roma integration measures,3 calls on the
involvement of local authorities and civil society
organizations (CSOs) in developing, implementing, and
monitoring national strategies through operations
co-financed by the ESI Funds. In this context, this handbook
was prepared to help prepare and implement effective
interventions for improving the living conditions of
disadvantaged Roma at the local level, using European,
national, or local funds. While there are legal texts such
as (1) Regulations of the European Parliament and of the
Council, which lay down the general provisions on the EU
funds; (2) country position papers that outline the analysis
of the main challenges and funding priorities relevant for
the ESI funds; and (3) Guidance on European Structural and
Investment Funds 2014 2020 which consist of a series of
guidelines and templates for operationalizing the EU
policies and regulations, this handbook should be treated as
a nonbinding reference source. It shares hands-on, practical
knowledge, techniques, and tools for enhancing the quality
of interventions. The handbook intends to provide global
insights, experience, and ideas to broaden the range of
interventions and actions considered by stakeholders, and
also to inspire further innovations.
