The new Strategy for Roma and Traveller Inclusion (2026-30) was adopted by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe today. Increasing and promoting knowledge and awareness about the communities, while fostering a sense of pride in Roma and Traveller identities, ensuring equal rights, dignity, and gender equality for Roma and Travellers, as well as increasing their active participation of in public and political life, are the priorities of the Council of Europe's and its member states' work for the five years to come.
The Strategy aims to transform fragmented national efforts into a coherent European response. The Council of Europe reaffirms that the protection of Europe's largest minority is not just a national responsibility but a shared European obligation essential to upholding the continent's fundamental values and social cohesion.
What does the general public know about Roma and Travellers?
Society's knowledge about Roma and Travellers rarely goes beyond the notion that they are "exposed to discrimination". This essentially reinforces negative attitudes, stereotyping and stigmatisation of this community, including in the media and education. A lack of representation of the history and culture of Roma and Travellers in school curricula, as well as deficit of information about, denial and distortion of the Roma Holocaust exacerbate these issues. Media, including social networks, and artificial intelligence (AI) can reinforce harmful stereotypes. Thus, accurate resonance and amplifying Roma and Traveller voices in education and media remain crucial for countering antigypsyism. The strategy proposes, among other things, building alliances with media to counter disinformation, identifying and mitigating ethical risks created by AI, raising awareness of the Roma Holocaust, including through its coverage by the school curricula, as well as promoting cultural heritage of Roma and Travellers.
Human rights of Roma and Traveller people
As for human rights and dignity of Roma and Traveller communities, they continue to face significant challenges. From 2002 to 2024, the European Court of Human Rights has found human-rights violations in respect of Roma and Traveller applicants in 114 judgments, and implementation of over 40 relevant Court judgments is still pending. Several judgments highlight structural problems, including discrimination in the field of education, ill-treatment, racially motivated crimes and lack of proper investigation into those crimes. Roma and Travellers are regularly subjected to mob violence and attacks by extremist groups and to discrimination by law-enforcement officials. Roma and Traveller women and children suffer from stark inequalities and educational segregation. In addition, protecting the traditional nomadic way of life of certain groups - such as the Travellers/Gens du voyage, Yenish, Kale and Manouches for whom mobility is an essential element of cultural identity and social organisation - remains a crucial yet overlooked aspect. The Council of Europe strategy aims at strengthening the capacity of public authorities to recognise and investigate occurrences of antigypsyism, promoting inclusion in education and making Roma and Traveller civil-society organisations stronger.
Roma and Travellers can appear invisible in politics
Without active public and political participation of Roma and Travellers, the potential for advancing their socio-economic opportunities will remain limited. The prevalent invisibility of Roma and Travellers in the political arena can lead to the isolation of communities, making them easy targets for vote-buying, tokenism, exploitation or neglect. Both community members and mainstream society should recognise the transformative potential of Roma and Travellers for social and political change, the strategy underlines. It proposes building partnerships at local, national and regional level, and promoting innovative models of political and civil education of Roma and Traveller inclusion.
The strategy follows the recommendations drawn from the final evaluation of the 2020-25 Strategic Action Plan for Roma and Traveller inclusion, which was also taken note of by the Committee of Ministers (CM) today. It also builds on several key standards, such as the CM Recommendation on the inclusion of Roma and Traveller history in school curricula and teaching material, CM Recommendation on Roma youth participation, and CM Recommendation on equality of Roma and Traveller women and girls.
The governments of member countries will drive the implementation of the strategy at national, regional and local levels, with the active participation of civil society organisations and in line with the relevant national legislative framework. The strategy's implementation will be coordinated by the Committee of experts for Roma and Traveller issues (ADI-ROM) under the Steering Committee on anti-discrimination, diversity and inclusion (CDADI).
The Council of Europe and Roma and Travellers
Impact of the European Convention on Human Rights
Romani-Bosnian artist awarded prize for strengthening Roma cultural heritage
Happy International Romani language day
