Abstract
McGarry (2012) in CSP presented significant aspects and dilemmas of European Union (EU) policy towards Roma. Developing points raised there, this article analyses French government statements and practices concerning Roma in the period from summer 2010 to late 2013 as a case study. It puts into relief the contrasts between EU emphasis on Roma as citizens with rights, and official French attitudes which are largely discriminatory. The frequency at the highest levels of the French state of widely-used anti-Roma clichés: ‘alien values’; ‘cultural difference’; threat to property, safety, and health; crime, etc. is highly problematic for the development of citizen rights in the face of both the principle and reality of free mobility within the EU. The change in government in France in 2012 did not end either the discriminatory discourse or the expulsions, which commentators think is due to French and European Parliamentary elections in 2014.
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