Study elaborated for the Committee of the Regions: social cohesion, discrimination, segregation
Before going into the details of the study, it is worth highlighting that the Social Policy and Public Health Committee of the Assembly of European Regions (AER) held its conference in between 28-30. March 2007 in South-Transdanubia, at Pécs. The equal opportunities of the ethnic minorities was in the focus of the three days programme. As an output of the conference, the AER member regions representing 25 countries, announced a declaration which could be read at the bottom of this page. The topics discussed during the conference and the scope of the declaration are in line with the focus of the study to be presented below, which is - inter alia - to support the intergartion of the ethnic minorities.
The South Transdanubian Regional Development Council (STRDC) discussed and accepted on its meeting on 5th November, 2004 the "Proposal of the South Transdanubian Regional Development Council for the Hungarian representatives of the European Parliament, Hungarian delegates of the Committee of Regions (CoR) and the Economic and Social Committee (ESC) for the elaboration of EU programmes targeting to improve the living and housing conditions of inhabitants living in the run down settlements and town districts of the regions of new EU member states".
Thanks to the successful lobby of the European Parliament and CoR representatives concerned and interested in South Transdanubia the Bureau of the CoR discussed first on its meeting on 16th November, 2004 the initiative of the STRDC, then the proposal was discussed as one of the research programmes to be granted by the CoR.
On 17th October, 2005 the South Transdanubian Regional Development Agency, (STRDA) in cooperation with the University of Pécs, Faculty of Arts, Department of Sociology, the University of Corvinus, Department of Sociology and the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Centre for Regional Studies elaborated and sent an expression of interest documentation for the EU CoR research fields to Brussels.
On 16th October, 2006 was the "Community cohesion: good practices in local and regional level legislation concerning equal opportunities, special attention paid to areas lagging behind" call for proposal announced, to which the Consortia of the above mentioned organizations compiled a research plan to elaborate the research and a study, with the deadline of 6th November, 2006.
The research started in January, 2007 by the Consortia partners, its main point is to put those social groups into the centre of interest and to analyse their situation in a more detailed way who are concerned from many sides by the connected problems of discrimination and exclusion. Its exact aims are the survey of the antidiscrimination and anti-exclusion European policies and the activities of the European and national networks, promoting and helping systems serving antidiscrimination, as well as the introduction of the situation of the groups mostly concerned by social exclusion and discrimination. A further aim is the introduction of antidiscrimination activities of institutions, NGOs, local and regional authorities by providing best practices, compiling recommendations and proposals for different EU institutions, organizations, national governments, local and regional authorities, as well as networking and capacity building. During the research a manual is elaborated, which, among others, surveys many European places where the above-mentioned problems appear. Special up-to-dateness of the research and its results is the fact that the European Commission announced 2007 as the "European Year of Equality of Chances".
Deadline of the finishing of the research: 31st December, 2007
Senior experts of the research:
János Ladányi, university professor, University of Corvinus, Budapest,
Ilona Pálné Kovács, university professor, institution director, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Centre for Regional Studies,
Katalin Füzér, university professor, University of Pécs
Research leader: Béla Pörös
The successful application - beside the professional and moral acknowledgement - is important because out of the Hungarian regions South Transdanubia has the first possibility to directly influence European regional policy. The study and manual for the different EU organizations, European local and regional authorities, and the consultations and Committee meetings in Brussels in the coming period give good opportunities for this.
The study elaborated by the end of 2007. is the property of the Committee of the Regions according to the contract signed in between the consorium and the Committee of the Regions. For further information regarding the study pelase feel free to turn to the Consultative Works Directorate of the Committee of the Regions (www.cor.europa.eu).
