The European Commission has today, for the first time,
brought an EU Member State to the European Court of Justice for violating the
Race Equality Directive. Slovakia’s provision of segregated school education
for Romani children violates their educational rights and condemns generations
of children to racist and poor-quality schooling. The Commission first launched
legal action against the country via an infringement procedure in 2015, which
was followed up by a reasoned opinion (the next stage in the infringement
process) in 2019. Whilst Slovakia has undertaken piecemeal measures to amend
legislation and desegregate their schools, over 65% of Romani children in the
country remain in segregated schools according to the European Union
Agency for Fundamental Rights. Accordingly, this makes Slovakia the Member State
with the highest share of Romani children segregated in their education system
across the European Union
