EU concerned over Roma expulsions

The European Union’s top justice official expressed concern yesterday over France’s expulsion of Roma and said her office was reviewing whether the crackdown complied with EU law.

France has come under criticism at home and abroad over its expulsion of hundreds of Roma from eastern Europe in recent days, but has insisted that it was respecting EU laws.

EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding acknowledged that it was the sole responsibility of EU nations to ensure public order on their territories, but she said she expected all member states to respect EU rules on free movement.

“It is clear that those who break the law need to face the consequences. It is equally clear that nobody should face expulsion just for being Roma... I have therefore asked my services to fully analyse the situation in France, in particular whether all measures taken fully comply with EU law,” Ms Reding said.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, citing concerns about crime, has ordered police to step up deportations of Roma from eastern Europe and to dismantle unauthorised Gypsy camps.

Since July 28, the French authorities have returned 681 people back to Romania and Bulgaria, two countries that joined the EU in 2007, in a crackdown that has drawn fire from the left and right as well as the Vatican.

Under an arrangement to protect the labour market that expires in December 2013, France can expel Romanians and Bulgarians after three months in the country if they cannot show they have the financial means to stay.

Italian Interior Minister Roberto Maroni has praised France’s crackdown, saying in a newspaper interview on Saturday that Paris was “simply copying Italy.”