European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) study “Respecting, Protecting and Promoting the Right to Free Movement and Residence in the Member States of the European Union: The Case of the Roma”

23 March 2009

In December 2009, the ERRC began work on a study commissioned by the Fundamental Rights Agency concerning the movement of Romani EU citizens within the EU, focusing on the movement of Roma to Finland, France, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom. The ERRC is implementing this study in consortium with Fundacíon Secretariado Gitano (FSG), Fédération nationale des associations solidaires (FNASAT), Finnish League for Human Rights (FLHR), European Roma Information Office (ERIO), European Dialogue (ED) and several independent expert researchers. Within this study, the ERRC will conduct qualitative research on the respect, protection and promotion of the right of Romani EU citizens to move freely and reside in other EU Member States, in order to provide the FRA, EU institutions and Member States with important information for the development of effective policies and measures to address the needs of this population.

The study involves the following components:

• A literature review to survey the available information concerning the migration patterns of Roma; push and pull factors contributing to Romani migration; and qualitative information on the situation of Romani migrants in the country of destination;
• Field research in each country of destination based on a specific research methodology; interviews will be conducted with Romani individuals, local authorities working with Roma from other EU Member States and civil society organisations working with Roma from other EU Member States;
• The development of case studies in each of the five destination countries to provide examples of positive and negative measures, showcase approaches and map local cooperation;
• The development of a comparative report to synthesise all identified data on the movement of Roma within the EU;
• The development of a report on best practices describing successful approaches to addressing the needs of Roma from other EU Member States; and
• The development of policy and programming recommendations to local and national government authorities and European institutions.

The final report is available on the FRA website.

For further information on this project, please contact Catherine Twigg at: catherine.twigg@errc.org.