The Previous Meetings

The 13th Meeting on “Funding the Fight against Poverty” took place in Brussels from 22 to 24 September 2014. It gathered delegations of people with direct experience of poverty from 31 different national delegations to address and exchange with EU decision-makers.

The 12th European Meeting of People experiencing poverty was held from 18-20 June on the Esplanade of the European Parliament, with delegations from 26 European countries.

The meeting brought together over 150 people with personal experience of poverty and homelessness from 30 European countries.

Organised by the Hungarian Presidency of the European Union, with the support of the European Commission and of the European Anti-Poverty Network, the 10th European Meeting of People experiencing poverty entitled “Employment, Work, Jobs – The reality for people experiencing poverty” took place at the Palais d’Egmont in Brussels, on 14-15 May.

Organised by the Spanish Presidency of the European Union, with the support of the European Commission and of the European Anti-Poverty Network, the 9th European Meeting of People experiencing poverty took place at the European Parliament on 25 June and at the European Commission the next day.

The 8th Meeting of people experiencing poverty took place in Brussels on 15 and 16 May 2009 and addressed the topics of Housing, Financial Inclusion and Access to Basic Services.

It was attended by 124 delegates with experience of poverty from the EU Member States and approximately the same number of representatives of national governments, the European Commission, European non-governmental organisations and social partners.

The 6th European Meeting of People Experiencing Poverty took place on 4/5 May 2007 under the German EU Council Presidency in Brussels. The theme was “Progress made, future steps”.

The 5th Meeting took place in Brussels on 12-13 May 2006. The theme was “How do we cope with everyday life?” It was attended by over 200 people.

The outstanding innovation of the 4th Meeting is to have opened up the dialogue between the “ambassadors” of people experiencing poverty and “invited guests”, the key contacts at official and decision-making levels.

The theme of the 3rd European Meeting of People experiencing Poverty held in Brussels on 28-29 May 2004 focused on the importance of Governments at national and EU levels actively engaging with people experiencing poverty on their situations.

The second European meeting of people experiencing poverty “good participation practices” tooks place on 10th and 11th May 2003 in Brussels under the Greek Presidency.