Introduction: beyond nation states?

The Roma, as Europe’s largest minority group and who experience disproportionate levels of poverty, unemployment, poor accommodation and social exclusion have received significant political and policy-related attention in recent years. In 2011 the European Parliament announced the EU Framework for National Roma Integration Strategies (NRIS) which marked the first EU wide effort to address Roma poverty and marginalisation via national strategies devised at the national level. Each member state has produced national strategies for Roma inclusion in the core areas of education, housing, health, employment and discrimination with a focus on integrated inclusion, e.g., recognising that inclusion in one sphere requires inclusion in the others. In 2017 the European Commission published its mid-term review of the EU Framework which examines the progress made in each member state. The series of articles in this special edition addresses the progress made in meeting the NRIS’s objectives in seven member states each providing an in depth and critically informed analysis of policy development, progress and limitations in each country. The introduction provides a historical and policy context of the NRIS and considers its implications for the social integration and citizenship rights of Roma people.