On the eve of the EU’s first "Roma Summit", the EU Roma Policy Coalition urges for a long-term strategy. "Enough time has passed, there needs to be a framework with objectives and deadlines," say Coalition members. They call on the EU Presidency to formally endorse such commitments at the December European Council. The ERPC also remains concerned with the Commission’s response to the census of Roma in Italy.

The Olaszliszka tragedy in 2006 was a clear signal that tensions in Hungary between Roma and non-Roma require immediate attention, the Centre for Fair Political Analysis argues. It also illustrated how the Roma policies of successive governments since 1989 have failed to effectively tackle the problems. What is needed is a paradigm shift, in which the Roma issue is treated as a broad social policy and welfare problem.

The following Comment has been prepared by ARTICLE 19 based on an unofficial English translation of the Draft Law on Amendments of Law on Public Broadcasting Services “Radio of Montenegro” and “Television of Montenegro” (OJ RMNE No. 51/02 and 62/02) (draft Law), dated 10 July 2008. The purpose of the Comment is to help promote the adoption of a law that is consistent with international standards, as well as best national practice, in this area.

An interview with Romani Rose, the head of the German Central Council for Sinti and Roma. He has fought for official recognition of the Sinti and Roma suffering under the Nazi government; thirteen of his family members were murdered in death camps. He says not enough is being done to root out the causes of prejudice in Europe, and that many Sinti and Roma integrate by denying their ethnicity.

DecadeWatch is an assessment of government action on implementing the commitments expressed under the Decade of Roma Inclusion 2005–2015. Since the Decade aims at giving Roma a voice in the process of inclusion, this assessment has been conducted by coalitions of Roma NGOs and activists from all countries participating in the Decade. It aims to be a constructive contribution by Roma activists towards making the Decade a success. The first issue of DecadeWatch, published in June 2007, reviewed the period from the launch of the Decade in early 2005 until the end of 2006. This update report covers the year 2007 and reports any changes and new initiatives that governments introduced in that year.

The Swedish government’s Delegation for Roma Issues is investigating reparations and even a possible Truth and Reconciliation Commission, to come to grips with five centuries of persecution against one of the most oppressed minorities in Europe. A radio report.

The Equality Authority has a mandate to promote equality of opportunity and to combat discrimination. This report, which overviews the cases filed on grounds of violating equality, asserts that during 2007 the Equality Authority responded to 10,993 queries under five different pieces of legislation. It is reported that the emergence of the age ground as the highest area of casefiles under the Employment Equality Acts underpined the urgency in tackling the ageism. Another area that evidently posed challanges was disabled people’s rights. These allegations predominantly relate to a failure by employers and service providers to accommodate the needs of people with disabilities. The report also emphasizes that ground breaking research quantified, for the first time in an Irish context, the positive relationship between equality and diversity strategies in companies and increased productivity, increased motivation and decreased employee turnovers.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss and clarify Ofcom’s role in furthering the interests of citizens and it sets out Ofcom’s thinking on this issue. Ofcom sets out its understanding of the distinction between citizens’ and consumers’ interests. It also considers the duties to further citizens’ interests that are set out in the Communications Act 2003 and sets out a framework for furthering citizens’ and consumers’ interests in practice. The paper concludes by highlighting the key projects through which Ofcom will be furthering citizens’ interests in the coming months and years.

This resolution urges the Italian authorities to refrain from collecting fingerprints from Roma including minors and from using fingerprints already collected. The European Parliament has approved the resolution, procedure launched on initiative by the members of the ALDE, Viktória Mohácsi, Cappato Marco, with the introduction of various interrogations. Interrogations have been introduced also by Jan Marinus Wiersma, Kristian Vigenin, Magda Kósáné Kovács, Claudio Fava, Gianni Pittella, Adrian Severin and Katalin Lévai, for the PSE group, by Sarah Ludford, Metin Kazak e Magor Imre Csibi, for the ALDE group, by Monica Frassoni, Elly de Groen-Kouwenhoven and Claude Turmes, for the Verts/ALE group, by Giusto Catania, Roberto Musacchio, Vittorio Agnoletto e Umberto Guidoni, for the GUE/NGLgroup.

A coalition of NGOs launched this report on the deterioration of the human rights situation of Roma and Sinti in Italy, on the occasion of the OSCE’s Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting on Sustainable Policies for Roma and Sinti Integration in Vienna. Coalition members include the European Roma Rights Centre, the Open Society Institute, the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions, Romani Criss and the Roma Civic Alliance of Romania. The report includes a concise summary of a series of discriminatory legal and policy measures targeting Roma recently enacted by the right-wing Italian government, in place since the April 2008 elections. The report also contains the results of first-hand documentation conducted by the Coalition in Romani camps Italy at the end of May 2008, exploring the effects of these measures on members of Italy’s Roma and Sinti communities