The EU Commission says it is keeping a close eye on a new French purge on Roma camps to ensure expulsions are not arbitrary and discriminatory.
Yesterday French authorities dismantled two makeshift camps housing 200 people near Lille.
240 Roma gypsies were flown from Lyon to Romania in the biggest repatriation of its kind since Francois Hollande succeeded Nicolas Sarkozy as French President in May.
An EU source said the scrutiny would mean “a stiff test” for France.
Roma rights groups had hoped for a change of policy under the Hollande administration but new Interior Minister Manuel Valls has promised to take a “firm” line on the issue.
About 15,000 Roma are believed to live in improvised housing encampments on the edges of major cities in France including up to 4,000 in the Paris area.
