Category Archives: Publications

EAPN releases its 10 arguments in support of Active Inclusion

18/06/2014 – Active Inclusion is a strategy developed by the European Commission in 2008 and is designed to support people of working age who are experiencing social exclusion to live a life in dignity and help them move towards a decent job or to get more confidence and skills to participate more actively in their communities. However, little progress has been made in providing an integrated comprehensive strategy for active inclusion which combines adequate minimum support, inclusive labour market with access to quality services. In this short leaflet, EAPN gives 10 indisputable arguments for an integrated active-inclusion strategy, to reduce poverty, exclusion and inequalities and to enable everyone to live a decent life and participate in society.

EAPN launches its proposals for Country-Specific Recommendations (CSRs) for 2014

10/03/2014 – EAPN presents its proposals for CSRs for 2014, based on its national and European-organization members’ assessment. This comes in the week following the European Commission’s launch of the Communication in preparation for the Mid-Term Review of the Europe 2020 Strategy (2010-2020). EAPN’s synthesis report provides an overview of members’ findings on the social impact of the 2013 CSRs, i.e. recommendations of the European Commission to member States and their implementation, and proposes positive recommendations for the different States. The Report highlights the urgent need for the European Semester to deliver results on the Europe 2020 targets if it is to maintain any credibility, within the context of spiraling poverty levels across Europe, recognized by the Commission’s Communication.

EAPN Response to the Annual Growth Survey Package 2014: ‘Business as usual fails the fight against poverty’ – 10 key recommendations

26/02/2014 – On 13 November 2013, the European Commission adopted and launched the 2014 Annual Growth Survey (AGS) package and EAPN responded to it the next day through a press release, welcoming the proposals in the AGS to strengthen stakeholder involvement, but highlighting its concerns about the ‘business as usual’ approach, with few signs of a move away from counter-productive austerity priorities which are impacting negatively on poverty, exclusion and inequality. EAPN also highlighted the need to re-focus on Europe 2020 and the targets, and to back meaningful stakeholder dialogue to ensure effective policies and reinforced democratic legitimacy. In this paper, EAPN sets out these key messages in more details.

New EAPN Report on Troika programmes and impact: Lifeboat or Life sentence?

EAPN releases report on Troika (EC, IMF, ECB/WB) arrangements and their catastrophic impact on poverty and social exclusion

17/01/2014 – In the aftermath of the economic and financial crisis, several countries in Europe have found themselves locked out of borrowing on international markets, and thus obliged to accept emergency financial assistance from a Troika of external institutions – the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund, and the European central Bank (for Eurozone countries) / the World Bank (non-Eurozone countries). This report, complemented by online thematic and country annexes, gives a comprehensive view on the Troika arrangements and on their impact on poverty on poverty and social exclusion.

Structural Funds 2014-2020: What room for social inclusion and the involvement of NGOs?

16/12/2013 – This report assesses how the Partnership Principle is applied in the Partnership Agreements and Operational Programmes, ie how social NGOs have been actively involved in their drafting of these programming documents, which are key tools for implementing the new Structural Funds (2014-2020).

It also evaluates how social inclusion and the poverty-reduction target is effectively made a priority in these processes by the managing authorities at national and regional levels.

WORKING AND POOR: EAPN’s position paper on in-work poverty

 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.