2013-PEP-group

2013 European Meeting of People experiencing poverty REPORTS are out!

Brussels, 22 November 2013 – From 18 till 20 June, on the Esplanade in front of the European Parliament in Brussels, EAPN held the 12th Meeting of People experiencing poverty on “What we can learn from the experiences of poverty today”. Gathering delegations of people experiencing poverty and activists from all the EU countries, this meeting was also an significant event in the calendar of the 2013 European Year of the Citizen. The reports are now available.

Details

Sergio Aires, president of EAPN, meets with Commissioner Andor

Brussels, 18/11/2013 – During the meeting, Commissioner Andor reconfirmed his commitment to such EU-level meetings of people experiencing poverty. He pointed out that systematic involvement of people experiencing poverty in decision-making at national and European levels leads to more effective social measures, and added that such meetings “send a clear and important message that we want Europe to be inclusive.” Regarding timing,

 

Details

AGS 2014: Missed opportunity to restore EU credibility!

EAPN welcomes the new AGS 2014 priority on participation of national stakeholders, but deplores the failure to refocus on Europe 2020 and its targets and to propose a coherent strategy to tackle rising poverty

Brussels, 17 November 2013 –The European Anti-Poverty Network’s first reaction to the AGS, which the Commission adopted yesterday, is one of disappointment. EAPN criticizes the failure to re-focus the AGS on Europe 2020 and its targets (particularly the poverty and other social targets) and insists on the need for coherent integrated strategies, as called for in the EAPN letter to President Barroso on October 4th. The proposal to strengthen national stakeholder engagement in the Semester is however welcomed, but concerns raised about the overall aims.

Details
20pc-STRIPE

Will MEPs give the ESF its full potential to reduce poverty?

Brussels, 18 November 2013 – Last week, EAPN and the 19 other NGOs running the campaign EU Money for Poverty Reduction NOW! sent an urgent letter to the President of the European Parliament and the Presidents of the European political groups, on the eve of the plenary vote on the EU Budget and the ESF Regulation 2014-2020. The Coalition sees this vote as a test of the European Parliament’s commitment to reducing poverty by supporting a strong European Social Fund of at least 25% of the Cohesion Budget to back the 20% earmarked for poverty reduction. This would make a real difference for the 120 million women and men currently facing poverty and social inclusion across the European Union and would help to increase people’s trust in the European Parliament in these times of crisis.

Details