Strategies of Mobility Among Romanian Roma and Its Contribution to the EU Citizenship

The Spanish RTD project “TRANSROMA. Strategies of mobility, return and transnational practices between Romanian Roma people” funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation from 2012 to 2014, is aimed at analyzing strategies for mobility and return and transnational economic and political practices developed by the Romanian Roma in Spain and Romania. While the EU is defining a common political strategy for their inclusion, the Romanian Roma population has been involved in episodes of European history have deeply questioned the effectiveness of anti-discrimination legislation and the preservation of freedom of movement among EU citizens, as well as basic principles of living together and social cohesion. The economic recession and the scarce scientific knowledge about this group have reinforced the stigmatization and infringement of fundamental rights, ignoring their contribution to the societies of origin and destination. From a transnational vision that goes beyond methodological nationalism, this paper aims to present some of the results obtained by this RTD project. Specifically it aims to provide new scientific knowledge on migration processes such as circular migration and transnational spaces of the Romanian Roma, and analyze how they contribute both to origin and host societies and the process of construction a EU from the bottom up where the basic rights and living a reality for all its citizens.