On 14 December 2006, at a meeting between social NGOs, Commission officials and the EU Social Protection Committee, the European Anti Poverty Network (EAPN) expressed its deep concern at the disappearance of a clear focus on the eradication of poverty as an objective of the revised Lisbon Strategy.
On 15 November 2006, the European Parliament in its second reading, adopted the Services Directive, voting against all the proposed amendments to the Council’s compromise position. For the European Anti Poverty Network (EAPN), this is only a partial victory.
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.
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.
The shocking official figures of 72 million people living their daily lives in or at risk of poverty shows that the EU has failed in reaching the vision of a social Europe. This is why the participants to the Toledo EAPN General Assembly last week urged the European Union to “fundamentally rethink its economic and social policy if it is to achieve its stated objective to make decisive impact on the eradication of poverty by 2010”.
{jathumbnail}EAPN has officially launched on 12 September 2006 a new booklet entitled “Voices from the Poverty Line: Jobs and unemployment in the EU”.
In a letter sent today to the EU Heads of State and Government, EAPN states that no place for social inclusion within the implementation of the Lisbon Strategy would devalue the Spring Council conclusions.
EAPN calls for the EU to confirm the basic right to minimum income, providing adequate income levels to sustain a dignified life for all, regardless of employment status.
It is about time the Heads of State and Government reaffirmed that significant progress is to be made to help and support those in poverty, who are still excluded from the ‘EU family’ project.
EAPN has launched two new books aimed at contributing to the general debate on the future of Europe: a book entitled ‘The EU We Want’ and a comprehensive ‘Manual on the management of the EU Structural Funds’.