The Limits of Inclusion? Exploring the views of Roma and non Roma in six European Union Member States

This final research report for the Roma SOURCE project presents an analysis of new qualitative data generated in 24 focus groups with members of both Roma and non Roma populations resident in the six Member States in which the Roma SOURCE partners are situated (i.e. Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom). It builds on the literature and policy review previously presented in an earlier interim report which combined contextual discussions on the general situation of Roma in Europe with more specific information (drawn from the ‘country reports’ compiled by Roma SOURCE project partners), about the particular circumstances of Roma populations in those six Member States (rf. Brown, Dwyer and Scullion, 2012). A key aim of the fieldwork which underpins this final report was to access, and make sense of, a range of views and opinions about the extent to which Roma and non Roma people believed they routinely led segregated or integrated lives. Allied to this, discussions in the focus groups also centred on the social inclusion/exclusion of Roma in relation to key areas of contemporary life, such as the paid labour market and social welfare systems. The report, therefore, offers important insights into the perceptions, experiences and expectations of both Roma and non Roma people in respect of these important issues that are grounded in the everyday lives and situations of European citizens and residents.