{jathumbnail}The EU We Want is EAPN’s third book and is aimed at making a contribution to the debate and policies needed to eradicate poverty and social exclusion in the EU.
Download it (PDF, 1.9 Mo): English – French – German – Greek
Combating poverty and social exclusion: A new momentum in the European Union? (2000) was the first book produced by EAPN. It examined the move to develop specific national policies to tackle poverty and social exclusion in some EU Member States. This book addressed the question of how these emerging national policies related to proposed Community action in this field under the new article 137 of the Treaty of Amsterdam. Making a decisive impact on poverty and social exclusion? (2002) was EAPN’s second book, and was a progress report on the European Strategy on social inclusion. This EU inclusion strategy emerged from the Lisbon Council of 2000 and many of the features of this strategy were in line with the proposals contained in the first EAPN book.
The EU We Want has a different ambition from the previous two publications. The book comes at a particular time in the history of the development of the EU. Two prominent aspects dominate this period; firstly the enlargement of the EU and secondly the debates surrounding the ratification of the Constitutional Treaty for the EU. These events create a time for reflection and for debate about the role of the EU in the context of a world increasingly influenced by globalisation. This publication aims to contribute to these reflections and debates, a perspective from those actively engaged in the fight against poverty and social exclusion. While the authors of the chapters are closely associated to the work of EAPN the content of their articles does not necessarily reflect the shared views of EAPN. The publication is intended to raise debate within the membership of EAPN as well as the hope that it will reach and create debate within the wider society.
There are three parts to this publication. Part one seeks to give a broad overview of the development of EU anti poverty and social inclusion policies and to present statistics that help to give a view on the extent of the problem of poverty within such a wealthy part of the globe as the EU. This part also provides a reflection on ‘statistics in relation to poverty’ that highlights the importance of who gets to make the analysis of the meaning behind the statistics.
Part two has two aspects. It includes a series of essays which provide evidence that there is a dramatic political failure to efficiently fight and prevent poverty and social exclusion both within and outside of the EU. These essays reflect on the root causes that lie behind this failure and create demands for a political leadership that is deeply in tune with the everyday aspirations of the citizens and residents of the EU Member States. These essays do acknowledge that some EU Member States perform better than others in this regard and do highlight proposals, existing and new, which could transform the present reality.
The second aspect of part two is a series of portraits of people experiencing poverty and social exclusion. These portraits present a glimpse of some of the realities behind the statistic of 68 million people who face poverty and exclusion in the EU. These portraits some times use the real name of the person concerned and some times not, but in all instances the present real life situations. The portraits demonstrate the damage done to people by the failure to organise our society in a way that all people have access to their fundamental rights, as well as showing how people who face poverty and exclusion can overcome major obstacles and contribute to the creation of the EU we want.
