13 February 2015CAHROM (2015)5

 

AD HOC COMMITTEE OF EXPERTS ON ROMA ISSUES

(CAHROM)

 

9th BUREAU MEETING

 

Council of Europe Liaison Office in Brussels, Belgium, 6 February 2015

 

 

9th CAHROM BUREAU MEETING REPORT

 

 

OPENING OF THE MEETING AND ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA

 

  1.                 The Bureau of the Ad hoc Committee of Experts on Roma Issues (CAHROM) held its 9th meeting in the Council of Europe Liaison Office in Brussels on 6 February 2015. The Chair, Mr Stanko Baluh (Slovenia) opened the meeting. Were also present the Vice-Chair, Ms Mabera Kamberi (“the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”), the third Bureau member, Ms Christa Achleitner (Austria), the Special Representative of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe for Roma Issues, Mr Ulrich Bunjes, the Head of the SRSG Roma Support Team, Mr Sixto Molina, as well as the CAHROM Secretary, Mr Michaël Guet. The agenda as adopted and the list of working documents appear in Appendix 1.

 

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS AND FOLLOW-UP TO THE 8th CAHROM MEETING

 

  1.                 The Special Representative of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe for Roma Issues (hereafter “SRSG”) informed the Bureau members that the Ministers’ Deputies Rapporteur Group on Social and Health Questions (GR-SOC), at its 3 February meeting, adopted the abridged meeting report of the 8th CAHROM meeting. He also informed the Bureau that the Secretary General, Mr Thorbjørn Jagland, will address the CAHROM during the second day of the 9th CAHROM plenary meeting, i.e. on 28 May as from 9h30. Mr Bunjes underlined that this will be the first time ever that the Secretary General will address the Committee. His address may cover three major issues (see below) currently discussed at the level of the Committee of Ministers (CM). Documents will be circulated to the CAHROM in advance in order to allow participants to get prepared and ask questions. The SRSG will probably be available for a short Q&A session.

 

  1.                 The first issue concerns the future co-operation and dialogue with Roma civil society, including with regard to the continuation or termination of the Partnership Agreement with the European Roma and Travellers Forum (ERTF) which, following a decision taken end of last year, had been prolonged until 30 June 2015. The SRSG recalled that the CoE has been asked to prepare alternatives for dialogue with a wider range of Roma organisations (ERTF included). With regard to the new proposal, the SRSG indicated the main features of the concept under discussion: a) it would be meeting-based; b) the agenda of the meetings would be result-oriented and set by the Council of Europe, bringing the dialogue closer to the Organisation’s priorities but allowing Roma organisations to bring their concerns to the attention of the Organisation; c) dialogue would not be between Roma organisations and the Secretariat but with member States (it is envisaged to hold some of meetings back-to-back with CAHROM meetings so that member States could enter in dialogue with Roma civil society through their CAHROM representatives) and with monitoring mechanisms and other Council of Europe sectors.

 

  1.                 The composition of this meeting will be “à la carte”. In addition to permanent invitees, including the ERTF and the two umbrella organisations (GATIEF, FERYP) which had left the ERTF after the last Forum’s plenary, a certain number of Roma organisations particularly active in a certain field will be invited in the light of the topics to be addressed. Some issues remain to be discussed at the 31 March 2015 meeting of the GR-SOC, including the ongoing discussion with the European Commission to possibly link the “European Platform for Roma Inclusion” of the EU with the CoE’s initiative. The new proposed format would have repercussions on the functioning of the CAHROM; if held back-to-back with CAHROM meetings, exchange of views taking place so far between CAHROM members and civil society representatives will be moved from the CAHROM plenary agenda to the new dialogue event with civil society. It is not envisaged to cancel the observer status granted to Roma NGOs in CAHROM.

 

  1.                 The Austrian Bureau member asked the SRSG what would be the mistakes to be avoided in re-organising cooperation with Roma civil society, based on the lessons learnt from the partnership agreement with the ERTF. The SRSG indicated that the CM had felt increasingly uncomfortable with three main aspects: a) the lack of transparency in the decision-making process and the insufficient coverage of some members’ concerns (e.g. Travellers/nomadic Roma or youth aspects) which resulted in two founding ERTF members to leave the Forum last year; b) the lack of efforts to diversify its funding despite the clear commitment taken by the ERTF during the signature of the partnership agreement ten years ago; c) the lack of concrete contribution and advice to the CoE’s action for Roma.

 

  1.                 The second issue related to the developments concerning the proposed “European Roma Institute” (ERI). The SRSG informed the CAHROM Bureau that a four-page revised concept had been discussed with Permanent Representations in Strasbourg last November. Rather than creating a Partial Agreement, the current preferred option is to set up an independent institution (e.g. a foundation under national law), possibly hosted by a member State. It would neither be an academic institute and therefore would not duplicate with the European Academic Network on Romani Studies, nor would it duplicate the work of the ERTF. Permanent Representations agreed that a formal debate will start at the 31 March GR-SOC meeting. In the draft revised concept, it was proposed that the CoE and the OSF be part of the governance board and financially contribute to the setting-up of ERI (the CoE contribution could be around 200,000 Euros in cash or non-cash funding, i.e. one third of the critical mass) but more donors would be needed. There have been no concrete proposals yet from member States to contribute or host ERI. During the November meeting, the objectives of ERI have been further clarified: ERI would aim at showcasing the Romani culture, and boost the self-esteem of Roma. ERI could act as a think tank for developing ideas on how to combat anti-Gypsyism, hate speech and anti-Roma stereotypes. The SRSG underlined the innovative aspect of ERI by recalling that the CoE had not in the past a systematic approach to Romani culture, except some projects such as the European Route of Roma culture and heritage[1].

 

  1.                 The CAHROM Bureau members welcomed these clarifications. The Vice-Chair recalled that so far there has been little official support for ERI because the initial proposal was circulated to obtain governmental support without defining clear objectives. Bureau members expect a carefully prepared revised concept paper to be circulated to CAHROM prior to the next plenary meeting to avoid further misunderstandings. The Chair indicated that the new developments regarding the concept and objectives go in the right direction and Slovenia could be supportive of such a proposal. Learning from the past experience with the ERTF, the Bureau highlighted that ERI should not exclusively support the “Roma elite”, putting aside the grassroots level. ERI should reflect the diversity of Roma groups, cultural features and traditions.

 

  1.                 The SRSG also informed about the preparation of the Secretary General’s Strategic Paper on Roma Issues to be soon presented to the CM. This document reflects on the implementation of the “Strasbourg Declaration” (2010) by member States and the Organisation and makes proposals for future action. One of the proposals that may be relevant for CAHROM is the work engaged by the FRA to develop an indicators’ template to help assessing national Roma inclusion strategies. A discussion on whether such indicators could be applied to non-EU member States is on the agenda of the next plenary meeting. Once the strategic paper will be ready and approved at the CM level, it will be distributed to the CAHROM.

 

  1.                 The Head of the SRSG Roma Support Team informed the Bureau members about ongoing discussions with the European Commission/DG Justice about a possible new joint programme on gender/Roma women. Should this proposal be finalised in the coming months, some aspects of this programme could be presented at the 5th International Roma Women’s Review Conference in Skopje this autumn. Mr Molina also referred to progress made under ROMED and ROMACT joint programmes with the EC. The ROMED programme, which will be assessed in 2015, received a prize in Portugal (which is the 2nd example after Romania two years ago) and the ROMACT programme might be soon extended to the Czech Republic and Greece. He also indicated attempts to boost the outcomes of the European Alliance of Cities and Regions for Roma Inclusion. This year will be used to hold discussions between the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities and the SRSG for Roma Issues to agree on a clearer concept for the Alliance, which may include stronger co-operation with national networks/associations of municipalities and sub-networks of municipalities having a Roma population where they exist. The Bureau agreed that CAHROM members could be requested to provide short written information about such networks, where relevant.

 

  1.             The CAHROM Secretariat informed the Bureau members of an anti-discrimination training of trainers for legal professionals on the rights of Roma that was co-organised with DG1 HELP programme and the SOGI Unit in October with participants from 40 member States. On that occasion, an online HELP Roma module was presented. Police officers from 20 member States were also trained on European case-law related to discrimination against Roma in co-operation with the Criminal Law Department and the SOGI Unit in November. As a follow-up, the respective trainers contributed to the organisation of a national training for the Italian police on the one hand and a national training for lawyers on housing rights in Albania on the other hand. On 30 January 2015 took place in Strasbourg the launch of the COE-FRA-ENNHRI-EQUINET Operational Platform for Roma Equality (“OPRE”). This is one of four thematic platforms agreed upon between the four partners at a meeting in Vienna in October 2013. FRA launched the platform on asylum and migrants issues in October 2014 and will do the same for the platform on hate crime in Riga on 30-31 March this year. No dates have been fixed yet for the launching of the CoE-led thematic platform on social rights. One of the outcomes of the January meeting was the proposal to include the European Network of National Human Rights Institutions (ENNHRI) and the Network of Equality Bodies (Equinet) as observers in CAHROM pending receipt of a written request. The Bureau members agreed with this proposal.

 

  1.             In reaction to the above information, the Chair indicated that anti-discrimination training for the police by independent experts is a good example which can be also implemented in Slovenia. He also welcomed the launching of the COE-FRA-ENNHRI-EQUINET platform and underlined that there is a need in Slovenia to revise and to modify the existing equality body/national human rights institution. The current structure is under-staffed and does not meet expected requirements. The Vice-Chair said that in her country there a number of good equality bodies/human rights institutions at various levels. “The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” would be more interested by an anti-discrimination training of trainers for the police, especially if it could include border control officers.

 

  1.             As regards the 5th International Roma Women’s Review Conference, the Vice-Chair confirmed the agreement of the Government to host this conference in Skopje. The contact persons will be herself and Ms Jasmina Ivanova, Head of the Minister’s Cabinet at the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy. The authorities will provide the venue (in the Governmental building equipped with interpretation booths) and organise soon a meeting with international organisations present in Skopje to seek for their financial/technical assistance (e.g. to assist with a webcast like in Helsinki). She will also have a meeting with the EU Delegation to apply for financial support under the TAIEX programme. The proposed dates for this Conference are 6-7 October 2015. The Vice-Chair said that the preparatory meeting for the Women’s Conference scheduled in Strasbourg on 11-12 March is timely as she needs to prepare an information package for the Government in March. If needed an additional meeting could be organised in Skopje with authorities and local Roma women representatives to discuss the possible outcome and main messages of the conference. The Vice-Chair also confirmed the organisation of a ROMED2 National Workshop in March. She underlined the success of ROMED in her country. Four additional municipalities joined ROMED. Mediators have been trained to do practical work, including more recently at pre-school level.

 

DRAFT REVISED TERMS OF REFERENCE OF THE CAHROM FOR 2016-2017

 

  1.             The Bureau members discussed proposed amendments to the Terms of Reference (ToRs) for the biannual budget 2016-2017 [document CAHROM(2015)2prov]. They agreed to include as observers in the future TORs the European Roma Union (ERU), as well as the European Network of National Human Rights Institutions (ENNHRI) and the European Network of Equality Bodies (Equinet) provided both of them send an official written request. The Bureau members have also agreed to delete from the future ToRs those participants (ULO, ETUC, UNICE) and observers (ISSA) that have never participated in previous CAHROM meetings. Having in mind that the Decade for Roma Inclusion comes to an end in September 2015, the Decade for Roma Inclusion Secretariat Foundation will most probably have to be deleted from the list of observers in the new ToRs.

 

  1.             The Bureau members accepted the proposal to introduce “Yenish” in the footnote for “Roma and Roma-associated groups” used at the Council of Europe[2], as well as the rewording of the text about CAHROM’s working method (thematic groups/visits). They also validated the proposal to hold two annual plenary meetings of 3.5 days each instead of 3 and 4 days currently. They did not consider, however, relevant to increase the number of Bureau members from 3 to 7 by including the four thematic rapporteurs in the Bureau.

 

  1.             The Bureau took note that some of the amendments are pending CM decisions, e.g. concerning the future co-operation with Roma civil society and the prolongation of the partnership agreement with the ERTF. If this partnership agreement is terminated, the ERTF will appear as an observer in the ToRs without travel and subsistence costs reimbursed for one its member.

 

  1.             The Bureau agreed that the revised ToRs will not be circulated to CAHROM unless there is an explicit decision by the Committee of Ministers to consult the Committee on this.

 

PROPOSED CAHROM THEMATIC GROUPS IN 2015

 

  1.             The Secretariat informed the Bureau about developments concerning the thematic groups/visits that have already been accepted by the Committee at its last plenary meeting:

 

The dates have been confirmed by Albania. The four partner countries (Greece, Italy, Netherlands and Romania) have been validated by the Bureau. Greece, Italy and the Netherlands have already appointed their experts. Romania should do so in the coming days. The thematic report will be presented at the May 2015 CAHROM plenary meeting.

 

The French CAHROM member confirmed at the last plenary meeting that the thematic group will address schooling for both Roma citizens and so-called Roma migrants. Albania and Belgium had expressed their interest to be partner countries. The dates have not been fixed yet with the French authorities. The list of partner countries has not been validated by the Bureau, except for Belgium. Pending information about the dates, the proposed agenda and the possibility to have French/English interpretation, the Secretariat will consult possible partner countries, including Denmark, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Romania, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. The Bureau will take a final decision regarding partner countries, having in mind that priority will be given to member States having both Roma migrants and travelling communities (therefore the Bureau did not retain for the time being Albania in the list) and to countries represented in the CAHROM (which is currently not the case for Denmark). Preliminary conclusions of this thematic visit will be presented at the May CAHROM meeting, whilst the final report will be presented at the 10th CAHROM meeting in Romania on 27-29 October 2015.

 

The dates have been confirmed by Romania and the official invitation letter received from the Ministry of Labour, Family and Social Policy. The list of partner countries (Italy, the Republic of Moldova, Netherlands, Poland, as well as the United Kingdom provided that the latter confirmed its interest) have been validated by the Bureau. Italy and the Republic of Moldova already appointed their expert and the others should do so in the near future. Preliminary conclusions of this thematic visit will be presented at the May 2015 CAHROM plenary meeting, whilst the final report will be presented at the 10th CAHROM meeting in Bucharest, Romania, on 27-29 October 2015.

 

The dates have been confirmed by Slovenia. The five partner countries (Belgium, Croatia, Luxembourg, Serbia and the Slovak Republic) have been validated by the Bureau. The Youth Department of the Council of Europe will participate in the visit. Most of the countries have already appointed their experts. The final report will be presented at the 10th CAHROM meeting in Bucharest, Romania, on 27-29 October 2015.

 

  1.             As regards other proposals for thematic groups that might be set up for the second semester 2015, the Bureau took note of the list in document CAHROM (2014)3 and asked the Secretariat to circulate the list to the CAHROM members to check their interest. The Vice-Chair proposed to include “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” as a partner country for the proposed thematic group on Roma mediators and the one on vocational education/training. The Austrian CAHROM member will contact the German CAHROM member to check whether Germany could not be the requesting country for a thematic group on the Romani language.

 

DRAFT AGENDA AND PREPARATION OF THE 9th CAHROM PLENARY MEETING

  1.             The Secretariat presented the draft annotated agenda for the 9th CAHROM meeting (Strasbourg, 27-29 May 2015). Following a proposal to introduce a new agenda item by the Austrian Bureau member on the role of media in improving the positive image of Roma and some changes regarding the order of agenda items, the Bureau approved document CAHROM (2015)5prov and agreed to have it circulated with the convocation letter to CAHROM participants.

 

OTHER BUSINESS

 

  1.             The Chair of CAHROM confirmed that he would participate and represent CAHROM at the event organised the Slovenia based European Roma Union (ERU) on 17-18 March. On that occasion, he could inform ERU that they might be granted an observer status in CAHROM pending decisions of the Committee of Ministers regarding its future cooperation with Roma civil society and adoption of the Committee’s new Terms of Reference.

 

  1.             The Vice-Chair informed the Secretariat that she is in contact with the UNHCR office in Skopje for the organisation of a regional conference with countries from ex-Yugoslavia on the topic of legal status and lack of ID documents. Following the proposals made during the CAHROM thematic visit to Italy in April 2014 on the legal status of Roma from ex-Yugoslavia and their lack of ID documents, the Italian Ministry of Interior will be invited to this regional event and the report of this thematic visit distributed.

 

  1.             The Secretariat informed the Bureau members that Serbia proposed to organise a follow-up event to the International Seminar on the Inclusion of Roma History Teaching in National School Curricula co-organised by the Council of Europe and the Italian Ministry of Education, Universities and Research in Rome on 11-12 December 2014. The Vice-Chair who attended and represented CAHROM at this meeting welcomed this new initiative by Serbia. She recommended that there should be more time devoted to discussion, speakers’ presentations should be shorter and the conference room should have tables and not only chairs for participants.

 

  1.             The Bureau members took note that the 10th CAHROM plenary meeting will take place in Bucharest on 27-30 October 2015 following confirmation by the Romanian authorities. Pending approval of CAHROM new Terms of Reference by the Committee of Ministers for the years 2016-2017, Bulgaria will organise the 11th CAHROM plenary meeting in Sofia towards the end of its CoE chairmanship. The proposed dates are 26-29 April 2016 (or alternatively 3 to 6 May 2016).

 

 

 


Appendix 1

 

 

AGENDA AND WORKING DOCUMENTS OF THE 9TH BUREAU MEETING

 

Council of Europe Liaison Office in Brussels, Belgium, 6 February 2015

09h15 - 15h30

 

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I. OPENING OF THE MEETING AND ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA

 

 

 

II. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS AND FOLLOW-UP TO THE 8th CAHROM PLENARY MEETING

 

 

 

III. CAHROM REVISED TERMS OF REFERENCE (2016-2017)

 

 

 

IV. CAHROM THEMATIC GROUPS PROPOSALS FOR 2015

 

 

 

V. DRAFT AGENDA AND PREPARATION OF THE 9th CAHROM PLENARY MEETING

 

 

 

VI. ANY OTHER BUSINESS

 

CLOSURE OF THE 9th CAHROM BUREAU MEETING

 

 

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[1] http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/cultureheritage/culture/routes/roma_EN.asp.

[2] The revised footnote would read as follows: The term “Roma” used at the Council of Europe refers to Roma, Sinti, Kale and associated groups in Europe, including Travellers and Yenish, as well as the Eastern groups (Dom and Lom), and covers the wide diversity of the groups concerned, including persons who identify themselves as Gypsies.