A well known lawyer in Romania, Ramona Manescu has holded many important insitutionals jobs despite her young age. She is already into her second term at the European Parliament as member of the ALDE political group, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Europe. She is a leading politican of PNL, the National Liberal Party of former Prime Minister Taricenau.
1) In your opinion, what reasons lay behind the lack of integration of most Roma people? Are the authorities to be held responsible? Or the Roma people themselves?
If we are to be honest, we should admit that, first of all, it is the responsibility of the state of origin to handle the integration and education of Roma, and then we can talk about the responsibility of the states in which they wish to settle. Apart from the responsibility held by the authorities, the Roma people themselves must have the willingness to be integrated. Therefore, they have to respect the laws along with the rest of the citizens, in order to better fit into society.
2) How were the EU funds earmarked to the integration of Roma people were spent? In this regard, do you think that the European Strategy for Roma launched in 2008 marked a tangible progress?
Unfortunately, all the EU reports are demonstrating that the funds earmarked for the Member States for the social integration of Roma were not sufficient, on one hand and not efficiently used, on the other one. Therefore, as a result, today we are in the same situation as we were 20 years ago, regarding the problems of the Roma community. I can’t tell you how the EU funds were earmarked in my country in this field, because the government did not publish such a report. But, I think we can talk about the lack of a unified strategy for the Roma community. In my opinion, the national governments do not have enough political will for Roma integration, while the European authorities are investing just in a formal manner in programmes designed to help this minority.
3) As a Romanian politician and citizen, what do you think of the collective expulsions of Roma citizens launched by the France government since the end of July? Do you consider that such action in accordance with the European standards, notably embodied by the Directive 38 of 2004 on free movement of people in the EU?
As a Romanian politician and citizen I consider that we have to be careful and we have to have proofs when we launch ourselves in such an accusation. That is why I think we must wait for the report, in this case, of the representatives of the European Commission, especially of the Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship, Viviane Reding. I hope that after they will analyse all the details we will find out if France is in breach of the Directive 38 of 2004 on free movement of people in EU. I fully agree with the free movement of all the citizens but only with the condition to fully respect the laws of the country of residence. And this should apply to Roma population as well. Otherwise, we find ourselves in the situation where we all have rights and obligations, while citizens of Roma origin have only rights.
4) What is the actual condition of the Roma in your country? How they live, what is their social role? How would you describe their relationship with the Romanians who do not belong to this ethnic group?
Unfortunately Roma people are still living in poor conditions, a large part of this community still living as nomad and therefore it is very difficult for the authorities to integrate them. As a general situation for most of the Roma people they are still not integrated in an educational system and therefore it is very hard for them to find a job. Even though there is a part of Roma community well integrated also at the political level, (they are represented as a minority in the National Parliament), we still need to work together to improve their quality of life and encourage them to adapt to the society they are living in. This way they would better share with the others their positive side and culture.
5) How the Romanian Government is currently addressing the problem of Roma people? With which policies? How do you think it should act for the next future?
In my opinion, for the moment there are few programmes addressing the Roma issues, which are not covering enough their needs and problems. There is a lack of continuity in terms of policies, projects and allocations of funds and this is happening not only in Romania but also in the other member states facing the same problem. I hope that the European Strategy for Roma will be finalised as soon as possible and implemented by all the Member States as a starting point for the Roma people social integration.
