26/04/2016 – EAPN presents its full assessment of the 2016 Country Reports, released on 26 February 2016, and puts forward proposals for Country-Specific Recommendations (CSRs), based on inputs from National Networks European Organisations in our membership. EAPN wants the European Semester to deliver results on the Europe 2020 goals of inclusive and sustainable growth, and to deliver on its target to reduce poverty by at least 20 million by 2020.
We have been actively engaging, together with our members, in the European Semester at national and EU level, to try to support this aim. Our key concern is that the CSRs in 2016 ensure a better balance between economic and social recommendations, and that all policy recommendations contribute to poverty reduction and the other Europe 2020 goals.
The 6 Key Messages from the report are:
- Prioritise the fight against poverty and social exclusion, including child poverty, in line with the Europe 2020 target and through an overarching, integrated strategy
- Increase social investment, improve redistribution and tackle inequalities, in particular through tax justice
- Ensure adequate social protection for all, including decent levels for minimum income schemes
- Foster personalised, enabling pathway approaches, based on Active Inclusion, to support people into quality and sustainable employment
- Improve accessibility, affordability, and quality of services, including housing and healthcare
- Ensure full ownership and legitimacy of Europe 2020, by promoting meaningful stakeholder engagement in its processes, including of people experiencing poverty and their civil society organisations
