Mark the date! Hearing in the European Parliament next 17/02!

EAPN News

 

17/02/2014 – Today, our European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) “Water is a human right!” will be the subject of a public hearing in the European Parliament. The same day we will meet with the European Commission. In line with the regulation on ECIs we will be given the opportunity to explain our demands in both sessions. The meeting with the Commission is a closed session but the hearing in the European Parliament (EP) is open to anyone who registers in advance.

EAPN attends ESF launch conference

EAPN News

08/02/2013 – EAPN attended the ESF launch conference organised in Brussels by DG Employment on 6-7 February. This Conference was organized to present the main novelties of the ESF Regulation and help Managing authorities and other stakeholders to finalize/contribute to the design of the Operational Programmes. EAPN attended 2 workshops on the partnership principle and on active inclusion.

logo-Electing-Champions

2014 European Elections: EAPN calls on candidates to show their commitment

EAPN News

17/02 – Today, EAPN opens its blog dedicated to its campaign on the 2014 European Elections, http://electingchampionsin2014.net/. EAPN’s campaign Electing Champions for a social Europe will be launched on 04 March in the European Social Platform’s premises with a breakfast press briefing, gathering MEPs, journalists and EAPN members (national networks and European Organisations). EAPN will present its 2014 Elections manifesto, campaign objectives and activities as well as the pledge MEPs will be asked to make in fighting poverty, social exclusion and inequalities. This launch will also be a key opportunity for civil-society organisations to exchange with MEPs on their views and commitments.

EAPN speaks in EP Event: Working Towards a more Inclusive and balanced European Semester: a model for trade union and civil society involvement

EAPN News

29/01 – The breakfast  seminar, organized by Green MEPs: Marije Cornelissen and Jean Lambert, with Eurodiachonia and CESI (independent trade unions), argued for a more democratic and participative governance in the European Semester, wanting progress on Guidelines for involving social partners and civil society in structured dialogue in the Semester.

EAPN Participates in Equity Action final conference – addressing health inequalities – 2014 and beyond

EAPN News

23/01/2014 – EAPN participated in this important final conference of the Equity in Action project. This important conference show-cased the results of a joint action project, funded by the Commission, coordinated by UK, with 14 Member States, including Norway, and other stakeholders including Eurohealthnet, under DG Sanco’s Health Programme, aiming to find sustainable strategies to close the unacceptable gaps in inequality in health with a particular focus on the social determinants. Key Speakers included Sir Michael Marmott, Director, UCL, Institute of Health Equality, who highlighted the need to take urgent action, and to go beyond more collection of data, to tackle health inequality, but more specifically the social determinants – poverty and inequality – people’s access to adequate income, jobs, education and services.

EAPN participates in Spring Alliance Event – Go Green, Be social

EAPN News

05/12/2013 – EAPN participated in this Spring Alliance event, to try to look at how to move towards a social and sustainable agenda, focussing on the specific elements of environmental taxes and the social implications. The event was supported by the King Baudouin Foundation, hosted by Pervenche Beres, and included discussion on an independent report developed for the Alliance “ Environmental Taxes and Equity concerns”.

EESC opinion on minimum income and poverty indicators approved!

EAPN News

10/12 – the EESC opinion on minimum income and poverty indicators, an own initiative report (SOC/482) promoted by Mr Dassis (Workers Group II/Greece) with co-rapporteur Mr Boland (Various interests – GR III/Ireland was approved in the plenary session. EAPN has been actively involved in providing input to the opinion, in two hearings and by written input, with EAPN Ireland providing specific input to the co-rapporteur. The opinion was presented by the EESC in the EMIN event in Paris on 09/10. The opinion includes a call for ‘’a European framework directive that would extend minimum income schemes to all Member States, improve the adequacy of existing schemes, taking into account national contexts’.. the proposed directive should ‘ set common standards and indicators’ and to examine the funding possibilities for a European Minimum Income in particular setting up an appropriate European Fund“. It builds on the demand made by Committee of the Regions opinion on the European Platform Against Poverty, based on input from EAPN.

Peer Review in Belgium: The Belgian Platform against Poverty and Social Exclusion EU 2020

EAPN News

15/01/2014 – Paul Ginnell, from EAPN Ireland and co-chair of the European Inclusion Strategies Group of EAPN, represented EAPN at the EU Peer Review of the Belgian Platform Against Poverty and Social Exclusion EU2020 which took place on 14-15 January. He also drafted EAPN’s Comments Paper on the Peer Review, with the support of Elke Vandermeerschen, from BAPN (EAPN Belgium) and Sian Jones, Policy Coordinator for EAPN Europe. At the Peer Review, EAPN was represented by Paul Ginnell and BAPN by Anatole Kontsybovslyï, Crina Costache, Dabiel Ausloos, Daniël Meuleman, Elke Vandermeerschen, Ludo Horemans and Stephan Backes.

President of EAPN meets President Van Rompuy at Annual Convention on Poverty and social exclusion

EAPN News

27/11/2013 – Sérgio Aires thanked President van Rompuy for making time available for the meeting, which involved 4 other members of EAPN. He introduced EAPN as a European-wide coalition of NGOs, founded in 1989 with the support of the Commission, and with the major objective to contribute to the fight against poverty. The EC and the EU recognized that good governance included the participation of civil society; it was recognized that without that fundamental participation it would be very difficult to implement the European Project. He added that with the creation of EAPN in 1989, there was recognition that EAPN was a major network.