Minimum Income, Non-Take-Up and Pathways to Adequacy in Europe

The 30 January 2023 European Council Recommendation on Minimum Income1 represents a milestone in acknowledging the importance of Minimum Income Schemes (MIS) as a cornerstone of social protection. Yet civil society organisations, including the European Anti-Poverty Network (EAPN), stress that progress is far from sufficient. Adequacy, accessibility and enabling characteristics of MIS remain uneven across Member States. This is compounded by the stagnating levels of poverty across the European Union (EU)2.
This report synthesises insights from the EU Ministerial Conference on Minimum Income (Brussels, January 2024) and the MINET Meeting on Non-Take-Up (Berlin, October 2024), where EAPN invited to provide its views and expertise on the issue.