It was not the first time that Roma, usually called Gypsies, were gathered to participate in the Gypsy’s Pilgrimage. On May 24 , Les Saintes Maries de la Mer, (Saint Mary’s of the Sea,) a small fishing village located on the Mediterranean coast in Southern France was crowded by more than 10, 000 Gypsies from all over the world who came to worship the statue of a Cristian Saint, named Sarah. The destination of the pilgrimage was a Romanesque church, which dates from the 12th Century. As the relics were lowered, during the worship, some were holding up babies, as the belief goes that to touch the relics before they touch the ground is to receive a wondrous healing and protection from misfortune.
The President of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC,) Mario Sepi was invited by Payou Baptiste, President of the Gipsies Community of the region Languedoc-Roussillon and the Mayor of Fourques, Gilles Dumas to make their first steps together to develop cooperation between the region and the EESC concerning the Roma integration into civil society. As the Roma said they suffer massive discrimination throughout Europe, the Gipsies Community took the opportunity to discuss The Economic and Social Integration of the Roma, a day after the pilgrimage, with the EESC and draw attention to the need for a dialogue between the Roma minority and the European Union. “One of the conceptions of the EESC to minority issues and human rights is that the Committee is not only a consultative body at European level but it, EESC, will be deeper related to civil society and will be deeper related with the region. Our aim is for the region to become represented and to obtain the possibility of expressing  the sensibility of civil society at European level,” Sepi told New Europe a few hours before the debate. Anne-Marie Sigmund, an EESC member and rapporteur on Intercultural Dialogue and the Roma: The Key Role of Women and the Education of Children, said the dialogue with Roma is the best example for people to see how they can promote the values of Europe and the respect of other cultures. “Integration is the way we want to co-exist with all Europeans,” Sigmund said. But the Roma are more afraid of discrimination than hoping for integration because of what has happened, including burning out of their makeshift homes in Italy by groups they said were racist. An Amnesty International Report last week said that the EU has a  dismal record in preventing violations of human rights which it said have deteriorated because of the economic crisis which keeps the Roma stay firmly excluded from public life in all countries.

Roma under fire
According to a recent report by the Vienna-based Fundamental Rights Agency, in the last 12 months, 50 percent of Roma say they have been victims of discrimination in the EU and are afraid of more episodes and being further isolated from mainstream society because of the worldwide economic recession that has hit the EU hard, believing they will become even more targeted by people who lose their jobs and become socially antagonistic. Sepi said that with the economic crisis, conflicts can become more acute, not only on a social level but an ethnic one also, but he stressed that one of the roles of his group could help alleviate trouble. “An institution like the EESC has to help people avoid living in these conflicts,” he said.
As European elections loom on June 7, most of Roma people at the village of Saint Mary’s of the Sea, avoided giving their opinion and tried to keep a low profile, calling to mind a statement from Pedro Aguilera, the Chair of the European Roma Information Office (ERIO,) at a conference in the European Parliament on Roma access to political participation, in April. He stated that only two Roma have been elected to the European Parliament, out of a population of more than 10 million and that there should be 24 Roma based on their ratio to the rest of the population. Sigmund wanted to make clear that political participation of Roma can help the integration of Roma at a European level but said that getting 24 of them elected to the European Parliament is not realistic. “How we can elect 24 Roma, if there are not candidates? Who will elect them, if they are not asking for a place? It’s the wrong direction. First of all we have to start at the national level of each country,” she said. Concerning the European elections, Sepi said that the European electoral campaign avoids the real concerns and problems of Europeans, such as minorities’ issues and this creates a gap between citizens and the European Institutions.
 
 Tania Tsiora in Saintes Maries de la Mer