European Union approaches to Europe’s Romani People: the potential of a capabilities approach to law and policy making

This chapter critiques the European Union’s efforts to support Romani people in overcoming the disadvantaged positions they hold in EU Member States (MS). It reviews current EU measures and developments and argues that these have produced limited results for the improvement of the lives of Romani people in Europe. In fact, according to some data, the lives of Romani people have deteriorated in some MS. As such, the chapter argues that the EU should revise its approach for potentially more effective impacts. This chapter submits that EU efforts need to be geared towards empowering Romani people to take up the opportunities that the EU and its MS offer in a manner which allows them to lead lives of their choosing. To this end, the chapter adopts Sen’s capabilities approach as a way forward, which suggests that people need to have the freedom (capability) to choose a variety of lifestyles, and thus require empowerment to make choices and implement these in their lives. The capabilities approach goes beyond having access to goods and services, and requires authorities to create the conditions to empower citizens to make effective use of those goods and services. This chapter elaborates on Sen’s capabilities theory and assesses whether the EU supports it, and how it might (further) do so in the future. It concludes that to enhance the capabilities of Romani people in the EU, the EU institutions should adopt a multipronged strategy based on: greater use of Article 7 TEU and enforcement procedures; the introduction of a hard-law, Romani-specific measure; and the creation of a Roma Truth and Reconciliation Commission.