EAPN, represented by delegates from 13 European countries, attended the Annual Convention for Inclusive Growth 2019 (#ACIG2019) on 20 May, which this year focused on the future of Social Europe. As the Europe 2020 Strategy is coming to an end, the European Pillar of Social Rights, the 2030 Agenda and the new multiannual financial framework provide the structure for our work on social and economic inclusion in the decade ahead. In view of rapid societal changes, how can the EU reinvigorate the promise of a Social Europe? What social policy priorities should be proposed to the next EU Commission? How to ensure that the next generation of funding instruments can foster inclusive growth? Through presentations, workshops and interactive sessions, the Convention was aimed at stimulating the exchange of ideas and best practices on how to build our Social Europe in the years ahead.
EAPN’s participation in the ACIG
EAPN put forward 4 Key Messages to the Annual Convention for Inclusive Growth 2019, under the following titles:
- An ambitious, sustainable post 2020 strategy, delivering on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Social Pillar (EPSR).
- Ending poverty must be a pre-requisite, with an effective poverty target and integrated antipoverty strategy that makes a real difference to people’s lives.
- Universal, adequate social protection and minimum income are the foundation of Social Europe.
- People experiencing poverty and their civil society organisations must have equal participation rights with social partners in political processes.
See the full Key Messages here.
EAPN maintains that the Annual Convention must be a key instrument to drive real progress on reducing poverty and inequality, working together with stakeholders and people in poverty to forge effective solutions.
EAPN’s participation in workshops
Paul Ginnell from EAPN Ireland was rapporteur for this workshop (workshop 1): Implementing the European Pillar of Social Rights as the vehicle for the Sustainable Development Goals in the social area
See here for the agenda of the Convention, including a full list of workshops.
EAPN’s participation in side-events
EMPLOYMENT AND SOCIAL BENEFITS IN THE CONTEXT OF THE EUROPEAN SEMESTER AND POST-2020 EU STRATEGY: COMBATTING IN-WORK POVERTY FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES
This side-event, organised by the European Disability Forum, Inclusion Europe, EAPN, and the European Union of the Deaf, explored the risk of poverty and social exclusion for persons with disabilities when entering into employment, in the context of the implementation and assessment of the Europe 2020 Strategy, the EU Disability Strategy 2010-2020, and the European Pillar of Social Rights. Looking at the so-called “benefit trap” and whether persons with disabilities are pushed away from the labour market by the “cost of employment”, in a context where employment can even cause poverty, the exchange also focused on the threat to freedom of movement posed by a lack of coordination in social security systems across the EU for economically active people with disabilities. The aim was to explore how to guarantee that employment not only ensures adequate income, but also contributes to an improvement of people’s situation and inclusion, through the views of various stakeholders, including persons with disabilities themselves.
Vera Hinterdorfer, EAPN Vice-President/EAPN Austria, made a presentation on the questions below, sharing the following good practices from Austria: “Care allowance does not count as income and is not cut by receiving a salary… People with more than 50% disability are exempt from income tax.”
Questions:
- How can we ensure adequate income and combat poverty for people with disabilities who take up work in the open labour market?
- How can we improve the portability of social security entitlements when moving from one Member State to another?
See more documents about this side-event:
- Agenda
- Presentations: Inclusion Europe, European Anti-Poverty Network, European Union of the Deaf, European Disability Forum
- Key Messages
For more information about this side-event, please contact Sian Jones in the EAPN Europe staff team.
EAPN Key Documents
- EAPN position paper on the European Pillar of Social Rights – Making Social Rights the Beating Heart of Europe
- EAPN position paper on the Future of Europe
- EAPN assessment of the Country Reports 2019 – No Time for Complacency.
The Convention on social media: #ACIG2019
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