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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.

EAPN President Sérgio Aires meeting with European Commission President José Manuel Barroso

EAPN News

27/11/2013 – On the occasion of the European Convention against Poverty, EAPN President Sérgio Aires met with President Barroso.  Sérgio underlined the need for an integrated European Anti-Poverty Strategy stating that if finances and economy are EU businesses, poverty was also one – particularly when current economic choices contributed to it.  He also proposed to launch a process, both at European and national level assuring an enlarged participation of stakeholders, particularly those facing themselves poverty and social exclusion, to develop such a EU integrated strategy to fight poverty. This, he said, would be the positive sign of political commitment we would like to see.  President Barroso, whose speech at the Convention acknowledged the fact that the poverty target was way out of reach, responded outlining the structural and political difficulties to require member states to deliver on social targets. 

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WORKING AND POOR: EAPN launches position paper on in-work poverty at the Annual Convention of the European Platform against Poverty and Social Exclusion

EAPN News

In-work poverty means that some people are still experiencing poverty, despite holding a job. From 2010 to 2013, EAPN has closely monitored and mapped the situation in Member States, as well as the effect of different policy options towards solving the situation, or making it worse. The position paper aims to set out EAPN’s developing analysis of the issue of in-work poverty, and to contribute to the debate, highlighting the different situations across Europe, including the role of low pay, the structure and increased segmentation of the labour market, the role of benefit and taxation policies, and individual characteristics. Building on the extensive work done by EAPN members, key concerns are outlined, and the impact of various policies in different countries discussed, including the negative impact of the economic crisis and austerity measures. The paper brings the stories of the people themselves into the spotlight, and makes a plea for participation and democracy, as the foundation for formulating concrete proposals and ways forward on how to effectively combat in-work poverty. The role of the EU in fighting this growing phenomenon is clearly underlined.