EAPN welcomes the new AGS 2014 priority on participation of national stakeholders, but deplores the failure to refocus on Europe 2020 and its targets and to propose a coherent strategy to tackle rising poverty
Brussels, 17 November 2013 –The European Anti-Poverty Network’s first reaction to the AGS, which the Commission adopted yesterday, is one of disappointment. EAPN criticizes the failure to re-focus the AGS on Europe 2020 and its targets (particularly the poverty and other social targets) and insists on the need for coherent integrated strategies, as called for in the EAPN letter to President Barroso on October 4th. The proposal to strengthen national stakeholder engagement in the Semester is however welcomed, but concerns raised about the overall aims.