Towards better participation of excluded groups
The development of civil dialogue has faced numerous developments in the EU over the last decades, which were marked by a growing acknowledgement of the contribution of civil society to…
Services and Social Services: a general overview
One of the main ambitions of the revised Lisbon Strategy is to complete the internal market in the area of Services, which provide 75% of EU jobs and 65% of…
EAPN’s key concerns
The refusal of the EU to establish a strong horizontal framework on all Services of General Interest as a balance to the liberalization of the market through the Services Directive…
EAPN action against the Services Directive: In defense of quality universal services
EAPN actively campaigned against the Services Directive since its inception, (known as the Bolkestein Directive) on three key areas: To get Services of General Interest excluded from the Directive. To…
Structural Funds: a general overview
The Structural Funds and the Cohesion Fund are intended to narrow the gaps in economic and social development among the regions and Member States of the European Union. Representing more…
Building upon the EQUAL programme
One of the success stories of the last round of the structural funds was the EQUAL Programme, which operated on the basis of social inclusion, innovation, transnationality, empowerment and the…
Providing the right framework for NGOs to access the funds
To ensure that the funds deliver on tackling poverty, it is crucial to enable access of those organisations engaged with the most excluded, and to provide tailored mechanisms. Key tools…
Building upon the strengthened partnership principle
For the first time, Article 11 of the Structural Funds regulation explicitly recognizes the principle of partnership with civil society organisations, which “shall cover the preparation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation…
Stronger spending on social inclusion measures
In line with the renewed Lisbon Agenda, the emphasis on jobs, competitiveness and growth might hinder a rather holistic approach to socio-economic development. EAPN believes structural funds should be instrumental…
The Lisbon Strategy: A general overview
The ‘Lisbon Strategy’ (also referred to as the Lisbon Agenda) is a way of describing the more immediate priority objectives of the EU for the period 2000-2010. It is called…