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Including Europe’s socially excluded

Newsletter 2008-4

Publication date : 2009-01-17

Around 78 million people in the European Union – or 16% of the population – continue to be at risk of poverty, and the growing phenomenon of the working poor now affects as many as 8% of jobholders.

The annual European Round Table on poverty and social exclusion brings together representatives from NGOs, social partners, national and subnational governments and EU institutions to exchange information and views on how to improve social inclusion throughout the Union. In this, the seventh year, the meeting was followed, for the first time ever, by an informal meeting of EU Member States’ Ministers responsible for combating poverty, with a view to strengthening the political commitment of countries and making concrete recommendations in this area.

As emphasised in the Round Table discussions, efforts urgently need to be stepped up if the Union is to deliver on its social commitments. Indeed, despite all the measures taken, too many key indicators of poverty and social exclusion have not improved or have even continued to worsen in a number of EU countries.

To counter this trend, the Round Table stressed the importance of implementing the Commission’s recent Recommendation on the active inclusion of people excluded from the labour market1. The suggested approach is based on three complementary pillars:

  • adequate income support, which recognises people’s basic right to decent levels of social assistance and benefits so they are not socially excluded;
  • inclusive labour markets, where people who can work are given help to re-enter and stay in employment;
  • access to quality services, such as training, housing support, health and child care.

The Round Table further stressed the urgency of adopting quantified objectives for reducing poverty and social exclusion as well as a rigorous system for monitoring and evaluating policies and their national implementation.

Picking up on these conclusions, Ministers agreed that setting quantified goals at national level would be a useful approach worth intensifying, especially following the decision to designate 2010 as the “European Year of Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion”.

It was hoped that the European Year initiative will help reinforce political commitment towards more effective action and widen involvement in tackling poverty.

Recent research2 has highlighted how much Europe could gain from helping people who are struggling. It seems that mobilising people who would otherwise be hampered by discrimination, poverty and social exclusion can indeed boost economic growth.

Another key concern expressed at the Round Table is that the ongoing financial crisis and economic recession could cause large-scale job losses and increase poverty and social exclusion. In response to this, Ministers decided to monitor developments in poverty and exclusion regularly. In addition, on the initiative of the French Presidency and with the support of the European Commission, it was agreed that countries which so wish could usefully form a watchdog group to analyse changes in poverty in “real time” and, if necessary, call on the EU institutions to make a concerted response.

The forthcoming Social Affairs Council on 15-16 December, where Ministers are due to agree on common principles for active inclusion will be crucial in avoiding increases in poverty and exclusion ahead of 2010.

 

1 http://eur-lex.europa.eu/ LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=C OM:2008:0639:FIN:EN:PDF

2 European Commission (2007), The Social Situation in the European Union 2007 – Social Cohesion through Equal Opportunities. See also the work of the European Observatory on the Social Situation and Demography