The updated briefing paper on 'The social and employment situation of Roma communities in Slovakia' was written by CELSI researchers Barbora Holubová, Martin Kahanec, Lucia Kováčová and Maria Sedláková in collaboration with Zuzana Poláčková from the Slovak Academy of Sciences.

The study was originally commissioned by the committee on Employment and Social Affairs of the European Parliament for the purpose of its planned delegation visit to Slovakia in April 2020. It was updated in October 2021 in view of the rescheduled visit. It provides the Members of the European Parliament with background information for their visit, including up-to-date information and analysis covering four key areas:

• Overview of social and employment policy with a focus on the Roma minorities and the implementation of the Roma national strategy in the areas of housing and employment policies, social and economic integration and fighting poverty among the Roma;
• The situation of Roma children, integration in the educational system, especially segregated schooling, pre-primary education, and second-chance education programmes;
• Achievements and lessons to be learnt with regard to the use of EU funds and relevant programmes in Slovakia
• Related work of the Fundamental Rights Agency, the Council of Europe, the European Court of Auditors and their findings on the Roma situation in Slovakia.

The publication is available at: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2021/695466/IPOL_STU(2021)695466_EN.pdf

During the following meeting of the European Parliament's Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL), the discussants also highlighted the CELSI study. The discussion is available here: https://multimedia.europarl.europa.eu/en/committee-on-employment-and-social-affairs_20211201-1400-COMMITTEE-EMPL_vd?fbclid=IwAR0xaI0GvgJbg_EYnwYtp5_aV7P3I-mL6B5QbYNVc5ikotn4V5MQL318pP4

The part which deals with the delegation's visit and discussion starts at 16:00.