EAPN endorses the statement presented by the Alliance for Investing in Children to welcome the Conclusions adopted by the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumers Affairs Council. With wealth inequalities rising all across Europe and the Agenda 2030 poverty goals seeming each year more difficult to achieve, it is all the more important that Council acknowledges that child poverty as an essential part of tackling social issues in the EU.
The Alliance for Investing in Children urges EU institutions and Member States, and in particular the upcoming Slovak Presidency, to maintain child poverty and social exclusion high on their political agenda and to take forward the following actions:
- Promote a more comprehensive implementation of the Recommendation Investing in children: breaking the cycle of disadvantage by developing a roadmap and adopting child well-being indicators, as called for in the Written Declaration on investing in children.
- Re-balance the economic and social priorities throughout the European Semester process and put a stronger emphasis on policies addressing child and family poverty and social exclusion in the Country Specific Recommendations.
- Continue to promote the positive exchange of knowledge to tackle child poverty encouraged by the Dutch Presidency through the collection of best practices that is planned to be published as an addendum to the Council Conclusions and by the European Commission through the organisation of Peer Reviews. The Alliance recommends that the lessons learnt are taken in due account by Member States when designing and implementing policies that aim to combat child poverty and social exclusion, and that Peer Reviews continue to be organised in the future for further exchange and learning.
Read more about the joint statement on the Alliance for Investing in Children’s website.
