Guide for local, municipal and
regional authorities working
with the Roma community in
the structural funds
Brian Harvey
Prague
11th May 2011
[email protected]
Purpose of the guide
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Promote participation of local, municipal and
regional authorities in structural funds for benefit of
the Roma community, outlining:
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Situation of the Roma community
Structural funds
Potential of structural funds with Roma community
Role of local, municipal and regional authorities. This is
the core issue.
Next round of structural funds 2014-2020
Situation of Roma community
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Growing concern by European institutions
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Ten common basic principles for Roma inclusion
(2009)
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Specific initiatives to promote greater involvement
in EU funds in general, structural funds in
particular
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Community instruments & policies, 2008
Roundtable Fundamental Rights Agency, 2009
Commission expert group, 2010
Improving the tools – expert group report and project
examples, 2010
Why structural funds are
important
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Size: substantial resources (€347bn)
Duration: seven-year timeframe
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Enough to make a difference
Introduce European issues and concerns into national
agenda
Partnership principle, giving better results
Organized, disciplined structure, with monitoring,
indicators, evaluation
Possibility of sharing, learning across member states
Structural funds: critical features
for us
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Quality of design
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Quality of consultation process
Operation of partnership principle (#11)
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Identifies local, regional authorities
Who delivers?
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NSRF, operational programmes, which depends on
Regulations actually say very little, but...
Local, regional bodies can be managing authorities
Degree of openness to multiple delivery agents
Quality of delivery systems
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Availability of global grants (#42,43)
Current delivery systems
Regulations say little about who delivers, but there is scope for
delivery by local and regional authorities and through global
grants, with technical assistance to make their task easier
Structural funds and Roma
people: scope
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ESF regulation
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Does not name Roma but broad scope in employment, training,
enterprise, discrimination
Includes funding to build capacity project promoters
ERDF regulation
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Local development
Neighbourhood services
Health and social infrastructure
High concentrations social problems and from 2010:
Renovation of housing
Non-profit or municipal housing for low-income households
Structural funds, Roma people:
instruction to desk officers
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Education
Employment
Housing and habitat
Health services, facilities
Women
Structural funds and Roma
people: practice
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History of projects to pre-accession programmes
Mixture of ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ projects
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Community facilities, health centres
Education, training, Roma economy
Discrimination, capacity building
But issues, problems
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Projects too short, too small, too fast
Tackling soft issues, not deeper problems
Top down, not consultative or participatory
Lack of institutional, policy linkages
Weak on indicators, evaluation, dissemination, self-criticism
Structural funds and Roma
people: preparation
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Two years ahead, to ensure consultation
Allocate staff, train them
Identify technical requirements at start
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Engage with managing authority
Build financial reserve
Ensure quality management by managing authority.
Good authorities:
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Publish guidance manual
Set down MOU for operations
Train people in structural fund operation
Hotline for problems
Structural funds and Roma
people: good practice
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Bottom-up, empowering
Multi-dimensional, gender sensitive
Partnership approach
Scale, mass, duration to make impact
Linked to national strategies, institutions, policies, long-term
change
Hard as well as soft issues
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Address root causes, inequality, rights
Indicators, evaluation for impact, progression
Leave a legacy
Why local, regional authorities
should participate
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Providers key services
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Important deciders at local level
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Especially settlement, spatial & physical planning
Arbitrators of competing claims
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Social, health, education services, utilities, housing
Especially disputes with settled community
Neutral political role
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Good faith broker to build partnerships
Why there has not been more so
far
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National governments slow to involve local,
regional government
Politically contentious to some local voters
Low technical capacity, inexperience
Operating structural funds can be difficult, complex
Routes to participation
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Ask for involvement in national consultation
process (‘open the door’)
Ask for a strand/measures in OPs
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Develop vision, programme for working with Roma
community
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E.g. ERDF and or ESF HR OP
As managing authority/global grant
Avoid ‘follow-the-money approach’
Acquire technical capacity
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Look for technical assistance (#46, regulation)
Build skills, training necessary
A ‘good’ measure/strand/OP
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Involve Roma community as partners, from design
> evaluation
Clear understanding situation of Roma
Transfer learning previous programme
What the measure will do:
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Amounts, how, what, direct & indirect
System for calling for, selecting projects
Quality management
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Indicators, monitoring, evaluation
‘Good’ measures: instructions to
desk officers
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Workshops to promote, develop partnership
Lead role for mayors
Programmes should be long term
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Short-term interventions only in context of long-term plans
Participating NGOs must have good cash flow
Following Roma projects must be priority of monitoring
committees
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Quality datasets, indicators
Guidelines for projects developed by local,
regional authorities
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Build on core competences (housing etc)
Involve, empower Roma community
Link to all sections of authority
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New routes for Roma to work with officials, elected
representatives
Leave legacy
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Improved relationship
New systems, protocols, dialogue, mediation
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E.g. Roma representative council
Systems for self-critical sharing with other
authorities
Next round of structural funds
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2011 June Regulations (debated 2011-3)
2012
Common Strategic Framework
2012-3 Negotiate Development and
Investment Partnership Contract
2013
Negotiate operational programmes
2013
National consultations
2014
Start new round
The next round
Key stage for local and regional authorities is, during the national
consultations, presenting a case for their own involvement, with a
ready-to-go plan
Aims, objectives of next round
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EU2020 strategy
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16% reduction poverty
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From 120m to 100m
Education
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Reduce ESL from 15% to 10%
Secondary participation from 31% to 40%
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Environment 20/20/20
R&D to 3%
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Participation employment 69% to 75%
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Key proposals from Investing in
Europe’s future
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5 objectives
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Convergence, competitiveness, intermediate, cross-border,
territorial cohesion (cities & urban agenda)
Thematic priorities
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Local development
Active inclusion
Regeneration deprived areas
Areas of concentrated deprivation
Institutional reform, administrative capacity
Social innovation
Key proposals from European
Platform on poverty
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Simplified access to funds
Easier access for groups in high poverty, multiple
disadvantage
Global grants
Concentration on vulnerable groups, esp. Roma
community
New fund social experimentation, part drawn from
ESF
Regulations: watch for:
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Scope of next round
How commitments of Investing in Europe’s future,
platform are put into effect
Stated role for local, municipal authorities
Iteration of partnership principle
Delivery mechanisms e.g. global grants
Improved, simplified access
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Ensuring wider use technical assistance
Next steps for local, regional
authorities
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Identify, prepare projects in consultation with
Roma community (now)
Prepare, present model measures/OP
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Outline purpose, budgets, management etc
Request role as managing authority either or own
or as part of global grant
Look for distinct strand(s) delivered by local,
regional authorities
Ask for support from desk officers
Get in technical assistance to plan, train
The next steps
The time to set this in train is now, to have a presentation and plan
ready for when the national consultations begin. It will work best
in a broad, deep national consultation process.
Finally, key messages
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Situation Roma attracting more attention
Considerable scope in ESF, ERDF
So far, limited contribution
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But new hopes in Cohesion report, platform
Now is time to prepare an involvement in next
round
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Approach national authorities
Participate in national consultation process
Prepare a distinct strand(s), programme, projects
Apply lessons of what makes for good programmes, projects
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Thank you for your attention!