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MEPs attack slow pace of Roma investigation
Commission under fire for not taking action against France.
The European Commission today came under heavy criticism from MEPs over its handling of the Roma expulsions from France.
MEPs from most of the European Parliament’s political groups criticised Viviane Reding, the European commissioner for justice, for the slow pace of an investigation into whether the removal of hundreds of Roma from France violated the EU’s free movement rules and the Charter of Fundamental Rights.
Reding told MEPs during a debate on the situation faced by Europe’s 10-12 million Roma that legal experts were still investigating the matter and no conclusions were yet available.
She added that French ministers had “assured” the Commission that the French government had not violated EU laws, comments that were attacked by many members.
“The lack of urgency in the Commission’s response to the situation is disturbing,” said Hélène Flautre, a French Green MEP, who added that Reding and other commissioners were “pandering to the French authorities” over the expulsions, which she said were clearly illegal. “The European Commission must stop sitting on its hands. It must publish its initial analysis,” said Flautre.
Hannes Swoboda, an Austrian centre-left MEP, said the Socialist and Democrats (S&D) group was “deeply disappointed” with Reding’s failure to present MEPs with a conclusion to the initial investigation. “I among many European citizens want to know whether the French government has contravened the law or not…give us an answer,” said Swoboda.
Most groups pressed Reding on the issue, apart from the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP) which tempered its criticism on the issue and of France. The centre-right UMP party headed by Nicolas Sarkozy, France’s president, is a member of the EPP group.
Renate Weber, a Romanian Liberal MEP, said the Commission was “shutting its eyes” to the removal of Roma from other EU states, pointing to a similar action taken by Italy two years ago. “This is why the European Commission carries part of the responsibility for this wave of deportation of Europe’s Roma.”
Weber and others called on Reding to take urgent action to get member states to do more to integrate Roma into their populations to avoid future problems.
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Reding defended her position, saying the Commission could not take action against France or any other country based on political declarations alone. “We cannot just go there and declare a war on a member state. There are rules for doing this,” she said. “This analysis has not yet finished, we do not yet have all the proof if there was discrimination or not.”
She told MEPs they “can be assured” that if the investigation found France or any other country guilty of violating EU rules, she would take them to court.
Reding told MEPs that the Commission approved a five point “action plan” yesterday that aims to address the Roma issue in the EU.
The plan involves: renewed monitoring and assessing the progress made by all member states on implementing fully EU freedom of movement and non-discrimination rules with regards to Roma; setting up a senior-level taskforce to make sure aid funds for Roma are spent properly; holding a special EU ministerial meeting that gathers justice and social affairs ministers; setting up a road-map for future EU rotating presidencies to make sure Roma inclusion and integration stays on top of the agenda; and a call for member states to redouble efforts to fight human trafficking that involves Roma.