As a result, increasing numbers of Roma end up in other EU countries in search of a better life.

BBC: NI Romanians face uncertain future

Hostility towards the Romanian Roma in the UK has been far less noticeable than in other EU countries.

BBC: NI Romanians face uncertain future

The French government says it aims to get the Roma issue included on the agenda of the EU summit on 18-19 October.

BBC: French government eases job access for Roma

Surely, mutter diplomats, any country seeking to join the EU that had ejected Roma as noisily as France has would have its application held up.

ECONOMIST: Charlemagne

But the French government, which says it expelled thousands of Roma this year and in 2009, says it is acting in accordance with EU law by repatriating Roma who have been in France for more than three months without work.

BBC: UN urges France to avoid Roma deportations