EAPN’s campaign manifesto on the 2014 European Elections calls on candidates to show their commitment and sign up to the following pledge:
“If elected, I commit to make the fight against poverty, social exclusion and inequality a priority item on the Parliament and EU agenda by defending the development of an explicit European anti-poverty strategy and an annual hearing of people experiencing poverty to monitor its implementation and progress.”
EAPN national networks in EU Member States are arranging meetings with their countries’ candidates to get their commitment and signature, which will be displayed on the campaign’s blog http://electingchampionsin2014.net/, along with EAPN’s national networks activities and contact references.
Every Vote Counts
With levels of trust in the European Union as low as 33% and trust in National Governments even lower at 27% the big loser of the 2014 European Parliament elections could be democracy itself. With the realities of growing levels of poverty, inequality and xenophobia, fuelled by the dominance in the EU and Member States of policies of competitiveness and austerity, instead of cohesion and redistribution, democracy is already in a fragile condition. Despite these realities the European Anti-Poverty Network (EAPN) asserts that democratically elected representatives are part of the solution and calls on people to make their vote count in the European Parliament Elections.
This new Parliament should build on the achievements of previous European Parliaments such as the Youth Guarantee and a more social EU Budget 2014-2020. Thanks to the driving force of the EP in defending the minimum shares of the ESF, including the 20% earmarked for poverty reduction and the Fund for European Aid to the most deprived, the EU may be able to better deliver on the Europe 2020 poverty reduction target. Future Parliamentarians must ensure that Member States use that money properly and effectively to combat poverty and social exclusion.
Poverty is not inevitable and can be eradicated in the EU and globally
It’s not a problem of scarce resources. If we avoid greed and waste and share what we have equitably and sustainably, through fairer redistribution the eradication of poverty is possible! The good news is that more equal societies perform better for almost everyone and strong Universal Welfare States achieve greater equality while preventing and eradicating poverty. It is therefore not a surprise that those countries are more resilient to the current crisis and continue to perform better than those countries with lesser social protection. International governmental institutions have an important role to play to ensure cooperation between countries to foster high level social standards and to find innovative solutions regarding distribution and redistribution of resources, goods and services, between and within countries. This role becomes even more vital in the context of a more globalised world. The European Parliament could play a vital role to ensure the European Union develops in this direction.
3 proposals for a more Social Europe with greater participation
EAPN’s manifesto develops 3 proposals for a more social Europe, with greater participation:
- A Social Pact for a Social Europe
- An effective EU Strategy to fight Poverty, Social Exclusion and Discrimination
- Strengthened democracy and civil society participation
Follow the campaign!
- All the information related to the campaign and updates on the campaign’s BLOG: http://electingchampionsin2014.net/
- Follow us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/EuropeanAntiPovertyNetwork
- and Twitter @EAPNEurope #EP2014
For any question on this EAPN’s campaign, you can contact Barbara Helfferich, Director of EAPN barbara.helfferich@eapn.eu or Nellie Epinat, Communications Officer for EAPN
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