EAPN welcomes the timely initiative by the Danish presidency and the European Commission in organising this Round Table on the European strategy against poverty and social exclusion.
The Round Table provides the first effective opportunity to reflect on the impact of the National Action Plans against poverty and social exclusion and discuss how the forthcoming round should be approached.
EAPN also welcomes the gradual involvement of candidate countries in this process. It is also appropriate that the round table opens on the International Day for the Elimination of Poverty, which marks the recognition that poverty is a violation of human rights and that its elimination is an international challenge as well as a local and national task.