Roma rights slides right off the EU Enlargement agenda
15 November 2024
It’s that time of the year again: the European Commission publishes its annual Enlargement package; President von der Leyen talks up the “historic opportunity … to complete the reunification of our continent”; and praises progress made in the ‘partly-free’ and very flawed aspirant democracies of the Western Balkans. Beyond the lofty rhetoric, the ‘fundamentals first’ principle that privileged human rights and the rule of law is now far from first. Copenhagen criteria don’t get a mention and Roma rights matter for little in a process described by one political wit as one where “we lie to the EU that we are serious about reforming, and they lie to us that they are serious about accession”.
Earlier this month, President von der Leyen told the media: “The tense geopolitical context makes it more compelling than ever that we complete the reunification of our continent, under the same values of democracy and the rule of law.” She spoke of great strides taken in a ‘merit-based’ process, and how enlargement will remain a top priority of the new Commission. Progress “requires determination to implement irreversible reforms in all areas of EU law, with special emphasis on the fundamentals of the enlargement process.”
Back in 2016, the Commission affirmed the “fundamentals first” principle, which includes the rule of law and fundamental rights, with specific mention of the “need to better protect minorities, in particular Roma.” Eight years later, Roma rights has slid down the agenda. In the 2024 Commission Communication, there is but one solitary and cursory mention of the Roma:
“Non-discrimination laws are in place, but greater efforts are still needed to combat discrimination, in particular against lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ) persons, Roma and other minorities.”
In the ‘new-look, new methodology’ country reports, there is little mention of the situation of the Roma in the Main Findings sections beyond calls to demonstrate real improvements in the exercise of the rights of minority rights through better data collection, “including reference to the targets set by the Poznan Declaration on Roma inclusion”.
Deep inside the body of each of the country reports, somewhere around page 44, there is the solitary ‘Roma paragraph’ which variously mentions high school-dropout rates and overrepresentation of Romani pupils in special-needs schools; continuing forced evictions and the need to legalise settlements; and how social inclusion is still hindered by anti-Roma discrimination.
In terms of reduced expectations, the North Macedonia report is instructive. According to the Commission, the state has “made satisfactory progress in the area of Roma inclusion, implementing the strategy for 2022-2030.” But, in the next sentence it appears that the strategy lacks “a clear approach to participation, empowerment and capacity building” and outstanding challenges include “irregular school attendance, street children and segregation in schools.”
In the main, criticism of governments’ failures on Roma inclusion is muted and constrained, the Roma boxes are duly ticked and tucked away inside the reports. It has become clear that this ‘fundamental’ is far from first, and low on the list of what matters for enlargement. It is likely that the standard line for this new Commission, when it comes recommendations and guidance on the reform priorities as regards Roma, will be ‘must try harder in implementing the Poznan Declaration commitments’.
Stability rather than democracy, lithium before justice
The reality for many years, was that for the Western Balkan candidate countries, the accession process had been effectively frozen, with as one critic put it, the EU maintaining a form of stabilitocracy rather than democracy, with “semi-authoritarian regimes implicitly propped up by the EU for purposes of maintaining regional stability”. Little has changed, and many EU member states remain reluctant to enlarge, while candidate countries remain reluctant to reform. Serbia stands a prime example of where member state reluctance is well-founded, and where the Commission’s stance has left many astounded.
In late October, von der Leyen visited Belgrade to congratulate ‘dear Aleksandar’ and his team for the great job done on their ‘excellent’ reform agenda, announced plans to move forward with EUR 1.5 billion under the Growth Plan, and declared that Serbia is one of the most advanced countries in the accession process and that ‘its actions follow its words.’
On the deeply contentious and divisive issue of lithium mining, von der Leyen congratulated Serbia for taking a lead in the batteries and electric vehicle industries – ‘the industries of tomorrow’, spoke of the billions of Euros to be made, and pledged the Commission’s support “every step of the way”. She dismissed the mass environmentalist opposition, blithely stating that “when we work together on raw materials projects, you can be fully assured that we will respect and preserve your beautiful nature” and that mining operators “will always listen and cooperate with local communities.”
Von der Leyen’s glowing remarks on Serbia’s progress prompted one commentator to remark “that the more Serbia is regressing in terms of the state of democracy, media freedom and the rule of law, the more praise it receives from the President of the European Commission.” What especially rankled the democratically-minded was that in the months before her visit “we have seen arrests, intimidation and harassment of opposition and civic activists. A strong disinformation campaign led by government-controlled media against civil society, which quite literally threatens their work and safety.”
Dragan Đilas, the leader of the centre-left Freedom and Justice Party (SSP), was even more blunt. In an open letter he asked if President von der Leyen felt uncomfortable while singing praises to the authorities of a country which, as he pointed out, is the European champion in corruption and crime: “Are you ashamed when you say that Vučić's Serbia, where children are thrown out of kindergartens because their parents are in the opposition, where members of the opposition get their heads smashed in, their cars set on fire, and they get fired from their jobs, is one of the most advanced countries in the EU accession process?"
As right-wing and far-right forces gain ground in the European Parliament, and the People’s Party stitches up the new Commission, chances are the enlargement process will be driven more by the unenlightened self-interest of the powerful in what the Commission calls, “a tense geopolitical context”. Fundamental rights and the rule of law will take second place to lithium and neo-liberal economic imperatives. In this context, there is a distinct probability that Roma rights, social inclusion, and the battle against anti-Roma racism will matter even less to ruling elites, and such inconvenient issues will be relegated to a mere afterthought.
