Inequality: Consequences for society, politics and people: 5-6 March 2014, European Parliament

05/06/03/2014 – EAPN participated in this important and well-attended conference, held in the European Parliament on the 5-6 March, organized by the Progressive Economy Forum and the Social and Democrats Alliance (S&D). The conference analysed the causes and the consequences of the crisis before looking at key priorities for action. Key speakers included Professor Joseph Stigliz, James K Galbraith, Martin Schulz, Jean-Paul Fitoussi, and Kate Pickett (co-author of the Spirit level), followed by detailed workshop discussions on recent academic papers and evening round table debates. Stigliz called inequality “the key problem of our time, which is growing across the globe, conditioned by a wrong economic model. But it´s not just about economics – policies count……how we responded to the crisis has made things worse. Economic inequality leads to political inequality, which leads to new rules of the game that produce more inequality…. The rules of the game in the end are about distribution and redistribution”.

Press release: Give the fight against poverty the political drive it deserves!

On the occasion of the fifth European Round Table on Poverty and Social Exclusion to be held in Tampere on 16-17 October 2006, the European Anti-Poverty Network (EAPN) will be sharing with EU and Government officials its initial reflections on the recent publication of the new ‘streamlined’ Reports for 2006-2008 under the Open method of coordination on social protection and social inclusion (OMC), the EU’s driving mechanism in meeting its objective to reduce poverty and social exclusion by 2010.

Investing in children alliance

EU Alliance for Investing in Children – No inclusive growth with increasing child poverty

10/03/2014 – There are 26,5 million children across the European Union at risk of poverty or social exclusion – half a million more than a year ago – and the economic, financial and social crisis is only putting even more children at risk. On the occasion of the EPSCO Council Meeting on 10 March, the EU Alliance for Investing in Children emphasises that tackling and preventing child poverty and social exclusion are key to achieving the Europe 2020 headline targets.

Press release: Will Flexicurity meet the need of people experiencing poverty and social exclusion?

On the eve of the Informal Tripartite Social Summit on Flexicurity to be held in Lahti, Finland on the 19 and 20th October 2006, the European Anti Poverty Network (EAPN) urges EU Prime Ministers to make sure that Flexicurity is used to deliver social cohesion and to contribute to the eradication of poverty, for people who are outside the labour market or already stuck in the worse paid, precarious employment.

Commission lacks ambition in replying to first European Citizens’ Initiative

19/03/2014 –  The European Commission (EC) published a Communication today that gives its official response to the first successful European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) which called on the EC “to implement the human right to water and sanitation in European law.” In the Communication, the European Commission does recall the importance of the human right to water and sanitation and states the importance of water as a public good and fundamental value and that “water is not a commercial product.” However, that’s as far as it goes.