Roma: A Challenge and Opportunity for a New EU Paradigm of Enlargement

Abstract

The hypothesis: for all the relative improvements in the economic and political situation of the Central and Eastern European countries, CEE countries could hardly become members of the European Union without finding solutions to the so-called “Romany problem”, from EU and CEE countries perspective. From the European Civil Society’s perspective, in the mirror, for all the progress in the economic and future political integration of European Union, European Civil Society (resistance against the coercive European Political Society) cannot accept “the embedded neo-liberalism” (the EU’s actual hegemonic Project) without finding solutions for the so-called “social fracture”(including the “Roma problem1 ”). This research is based on two theoretical perspectives: the integrative, and the neo-Gramscian one. The question is: can Romany Civil Society participate to the anti-hegemonic Project of European Civil Society, able to face the hegemonic project of European Political Society, “embedded neo-liberalism”? After examining the Romanian case study the answer is affirmative because this is one example of the efforts of the Romany Civil Society to understand their social situation and the possibilities to change it in alliance with other social forces of the Social Democratic Party. This study of the Roma’s EU integration was made from two perspectives: as a challenge but also as an opportunity for the EU enlargement, by shifting from a paternalistic policies paradigm of coercion2 or mimicry for Roma (hidden structural discrimination) towards a new and more enlightened policies paradigm3 , based more on socio-economic rights and legal status for Roma in Europe.