Addressing Structural Roma Poverty in the EU: A Human Rights Imperative

Roma communities across Europe continue to face some of the highest levels of poverty and social exclusion, driven not by individual circumstances but by structural discrimination, antigypsyism, and inherited social hierarchies. The document highlights how 70% of Roma people remain at risk of poverty compared to 16% of the general EU population, and how deprivation begins before birth and continues across generations.

It shows that poverty among Roma is multidimensional, rooted in restricted access to education, healthcare, housing, energy, employment, and justice, and is inseparable from discrimination based on work and descent.

The input calls for the EU Anti-Poverty Strategy to explicitly recognize and address the systemic nature of Roma poverty through a human-rights–based and intersectional approach. It stresses the need for strong alignment between anti-poverty policies, the EU Roma Framework, and the Anti-Racism Action Plan, while centering Roma-led monitoring, targeted investments, gender equality, and better data collection.

By reframing poverty as a question of justice rather than welfare, the document urges EU institutions and Member States to adopt measures that dismantle root causes, empower Roma communities, and ensure no one is left behind in Europe's social agenda.

For more, read our input below.