Presentation by Dominique Bé, European Commission, DG EMPL, on the occasion of the EESC conference on 'Better Roma inclusion through civil society initiatives: focus on education, employment, housing and antidiscrimination' (Brussels, 7 November 2014).

1. The Roma and Employment
state of play, evaluation of measures adopted,
main challenges, future developments
EESC Public hearing – 7 November 2014
Better Roma inclusion through civil society initiatives:
Dominique Bé
DG Employment, Social Affairs & Inclusion

2. EU FRAMEWORK FOR NATIONAL ROMA
INTEGRATION STRATEGIES
 employment
 close the gap between Roma and the rest of the
population

3. INTEGRATED APPROACH
 access to vocational training and on-the-job training
 access to the labour market
 tailored job search assistance and employment
services;
 first work experience
 active inclusion policies
 access to childcare
 support for self-employment and entrepreneurship
 access to micro-credit
 employment of Roma in the public sector

4. EUROPE 2020 COUNTRY SPECIFIC
RECOMMENDATIONS
BG Improve the efficiency of the Employment Agency by developing a
performance monitoring system and better targeting the most
vulnerable, such as low-skilled and elderly workers, the long-term
unemployed and Roma.
RO Step up efforts to implement the envisaged measures to favour the
integration of Roma in the labour market, increase school attendance
and reduce early school leaving, through a partnership approach and a
robust monitoring mechanism.

5. 2014-2020 EU FUNDS
 specific priority for marginalised communities
 employment priority

6. FIRST RESULTS
 some successes but no widespread improvement
 local projects implemented by NGOs
 limited results
 uncertain sustainability
 too few measures at national level
 job creation through self-employment, (social)
entrepreneurship and microfinance hardly exploited

7. IMPROVED EDUCATION PARTICIPATION
AND ATTAINMENT DOES NOT TRANSLATE
INTO EMPLOYMENT
 further deterioration of employment situation of Roma
 general increase of unemployment
 Roma (women) lack marketable skills and
qualifications.

8. NEED TO TARGET THE SUPPLY SIDE ...
 supply side: low skills of Roma job seekers
 need for investment in human capital
 vocational training and counselling
 effective access to mainstream employment
services.

9. … AND THE DEMAND SIDE OF THE LABOUR
MARKET
 demand side:
 recruitment subsidies, job trial and apprenticeship
schemes
 targeting Roma under the youth guarantee schemes
 fighting discrimination in the workplace
 social considerations into public procurement
 employing Roma in the public sector
 social economy and social innovation to promote
(re)entry into the labour market