EAPN and Eurochild participated in an important Peer Review on 3-4 December in Paris involving representatives from 11 Member States, focussed on the use of targets, and scoreboard mechanisms of indicators and governance mechanisms as drivers for active inclusion policy implementation.
The French Government profiled their target set in 2007 for reducing poverty by a 1/3 by 2015 and detailed scoreboard mechanism used to raise visibility and drive implementation of their active inclusion strategy. The high level of political backing, detailed coordination and governance mechanisms – both horizontal and vertical were seen to be key success elements. However, the choice of the poverty rate anchored at a point of time rather than the EU indicator on at risk of poverty, the lack of inequality and more qualitative indicators developed through participative methodologies – particularly related to well-being, and the need for more effective involvement of NGO’s and people in poverty at all stages of the assessment and policy process were key focuses for discussion.
